More than 80 percent are of the opinion that there are too many wolves in Kuhmo. The majority of respondents considered the number of bears, lynxes and wolverines to be appropriate.
There are too many wolves, not so much other big beasts. This is the opinion of the majority of respondents to the Kuhmo large predator working group’s municipal survey.
About 950 responses were received to the municipal survey conducted between December and January. Two thirds of them declared that they were from Kuhmo.
More than seven out of ten feel that large beasts have been harmful to everyday life. The majority of them are of the opinion that large animals prevent the hobby. Every fourth of them experiences fear and more than four out of five say that the number of large carnivores has influenced their keeping dogs or hunting with them.
The majority would increase population maintenance hunting
More than half of the respondents would increase population management hunting of large carnivores. About a quarter would increase so-called removal permits in order to reduce the number of prey. Few people think that people should just learn to adapt to life with beasts.
Although some people from Kuh make a living from the opportunities brought by wasteful feeding, more than 80 percent of the respondents see it as a harmful thing.
The voice of the locals is not heard in the news
A clear majority of the respondents dare to speak out loud about their big predator position. Despite this, up to 85 percent are of the opinion that the voice of the area’s residents is not heard strongly enough in the national media’s big-predator news.
– It was quite clear from the answers to the survey that people needed to be able to say their own comments. According to the answers, the local population has not been taken into account enough in the big carnivore policy, says Huotari.
Big beasts are discussed today at Kuhmo-talo. The city of Kuhmo is involved in the Well-said project led by Yle and Erätauko Foundation, which aims to strengthen the best aspects of Finnish discussion culture and create safe discussion environments.
*What thoughts do the results of the survey evoke? You can discuss the topic until 23:00 on February 5.*