The Scandinavian Brown Bear Project Print this page
Abstract:
The brown bear (Ursus arctos) was once distributed throughout the Swedish mainland. But provincial laws requiring hunting of bears and high bounties reduced the species distribution and numbers last century. Steps were already taken in the 1890’s to protect bears, and the species have slowly recovered the last 40 years due to this protection. The bear population was in mid 1970’s estimated to 400-600 bears, and the population still shows increasing tendency. Hunting season is between the first of September throughout October. The EPB sets yearly a maximum harvest number for each region, and approximately 30 bears have yearly been shot in the last three years.
1990, Aquilo Ser. Zool. 27:17-19