A report published by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) has estimated the total number of bears in Finland to be between 2,250 and 2,400.
The report — published in advance of the hunting season beginning in August — found that Finland's bear population is 16 percent lower than last year, when the numbers were estimated to be between 2,670 and 2,800.
Over the last four years, the hunting quota for bears has been gradually increasing and this policy has seemingly halted the growth in bear numbers.
"This is in line with the target to stifle the population growth that began in 2014. However, the results have been varied: the number of bears clearly decreased in Eastern Finland where the hunting quota rate is high, whereas in Western Finland the population has even increased slightly," Luke's researcher Samuli Heikkinen said.
The quota was 457 during the 2021-2022 hunting season, which was 73 more than in the previous season and 144 more than during the 2019-2020 season.
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Eastern Finland still has the largest bear population
Bear population estimates are based on the number and size of bear litters.
For example, in 2021, 1,129 litters were observed to include at least one less-than-one-year-old cub. The number of litters was believed to be around 212-246, and the total population estimate was calculated by multiplying this figure by 10.
The Finnish bear population is also influenced by cross-border movements, and the Finnish bear population’s genetic diversity was changed between 1990 and 2021 when a lot of bears emigrated from Russia.
Luke added that this immigration of bears is one reason for the relatively small changes in Eastern Finland's bear population, which has not decreased significantly, despite the high hunting quota.
Although Luke believes that the increased quota had an impact on bear numbers, the institute's researchers added that long term conclusions should not be drawn from these observations. The full impact of population growth measures may take years to become apparent, due to bears’ long lifespans and slow reproduction cycles.