A pretrial investigation initiated in February 2014 over a suspected wolf-poaching case in Tohmajärvi in Eastern Finland has been concluded. Police found that no crime had been committed, and no individuals were suspected of wrongdoing in the investigation.
In January, police decided to put a wolf down, a tracked individual known as Sako. A suspicion of an aggravated hunting law violation arose after the animal had been killed.
Investigation by a research specialist at the Finnish Food Safety Authority (Evira), however, found no evidence of any previous attempts to put down the wolf. Sako had sustained injuries to its front paws, Evira says, but not within the time frame of the suspected hunting violation.
Snowmobile tracks indicated crime
The pretrial investigation was initiated in February 2014 after traces of blood and tire tracks from a snowmobile were discovered in Tohmajärvi. Police suspected that wolves had been hunted down and chased in the area using snowmobiles.
Police asked the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute to investigate whether the wolf showed signs of being shot previously to being brought down by police. The Institute was not able to tranquilise and inspect the wolf in spring 2014 due to insufficient snow cover.
There are fewer than 200 wolves in Finland, making them an endangered species, and many of them wear tracking collars to allow researchers to follow their movements. Despite the low recorded numbers, there is strong support in some rural regions for a change in the current bans on hunting wolves, as some feel the wolves represent a threat to livestock and family pets.