Nature

Game management associations in Kyyjärvi and the surrounding area have organised collection points and are sending the moose heads to the Food Authority for examination. A moose head was also sent from Perho for examination.

The suspicion of a rare animal disease has triggered an extraordinary operation in ten game management associations.

When preliminary investigations revealed the presence of TSE in a deer shot in Kyyjärvi in central Finland, the need for further investigations was identified and the Food Authority asked the game management associations to examine deer heads.

More than 20 heads from the weekend’s moose hunt have already been sent to the Agency’s laboratories in Seinäjoki or Kuopio.

The final confirmation of Kyjærve’s disease case will be available next week.

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The Food Authority asked to test elk heads for TSE – hunters already submitted twenty samples from the weekend huntRead More »

Metsähallitus stresses that the preservation of the open sand dunes of Vattaja requires continuous management and support funds. In recent years, the area has received a lot of support.

This summer, significant discoveries of endangered insects in Central Ostrobothnia have been made at Vattajanniemi in Lohtaja.

Vattajaniemi is a rare area even by European standards. It has 15 kilometres of sandy beaches, protected dune habitats and rare species.

In the nature reserve, Metsähallitus found the sawfly, a butterfly that is disappearing from Finland due to the encroachment of open sandy areas.

In addition, sand beetles were found in three sheep pastures.

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Endangered insect species found in a nature reserve that had been missing for decades – Metsähallitus: successful management measuresRead More »

The permit for the Saunajärvi area covered eight wolf packs and the permit for the Liminka-Temme area covered two. The permits were issued on the basis of herd management.

The Administrative Court of Northern Finland has ruled on the wolf derogation permits granted by the Finnish Game Centre in Kuhmo and Liminka-Temme last year. It ruled that the permits had been wrongly granted.

The Administrative Court of Northern Finland issued an interim decision prohibiting the implementation of the derogations granted for wolf pack areas. The Finnish Game Centre granted the derogations at the end of December 2021.

The permit for the Saunajärvi area covered eight wolf packs and the permit for the Liminka-Temme area covered two. The permits were issued on the basis of herd management.

Klemetti says that during the past autumn there have been dogs in the wolf’s mouth. A permit application is planned to be submitted if permits are to be applied for.

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Administrative Court: wolf permits for Liminka-Temme and Kuhmo Saunajärvi were wrongly grantedRead More »

The city does not have the resources to increase the number of areas to be maintained.

In Hämeenlinna, a council initiative for a hiking trail in Kutalanpuisto will remain unrealised, at least for the time being.

During the official hearing of the initiative, it was stated that the city does not have the resources to increase the number of areas to be maintained, so the initiative to build a park is unlikely to fit into the investment programme for the coming years.

Instead, the city will, if necessary, renovate the existing trail and boat ramps near the Kutala River.

In the initiative, a new Kutalanpuisto was proposed on the shore of Lake Katumajärvi, where there would be a barrier-free route, signposts, rest benches and a barbecue area.

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Council initiative for an outdoor recreation area in Kutalanpuisto does not move forward in HämeenlinnaRead More »

The aim of the bypass solution is to strengthen the natural cycle of the endangered lake trout in the Hyrynsalmi route, which is part of the Oulu River water body.

Fortum is investigating the implementation of a bypass solution for migratory fish migration at the Seitenoikea hydropower plant located on the border between the municipalities of Ristijärvi and Hyrynsalmi.

The aim of the bypass solution is to strengthen the natural cycle of the endangered lake trout in the Hyrynsalmi route, which is part of the Oulu River water body.

– The Seitenoike power plant is included in the national fishway strategy adopted in 2012. It has identified sites that are the best places to restore migratory fish breeding conditions, so Seitenoikea is the next potential site. No decisions have been made on that yet, and of course it will also be affected by this ongoing valuable water project in the Oulu River basin,” says Hämäläinen.

During the next year, a feasibility study of the bypass solution will be carried out, where all bypass solution alternatives will be taken into account and which of them would be best suited to the conditions of the Seitenoikea power plant.

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The trout road may not necessarily end up at the Seitenoike hydroelectric power plant – Fortum is investigating the implementation of a bypass solution to allow migratory fish to migrate upstreamRead More »

A hunting competition in Suomussalmi, Kainuu, has been the subject of much media and publicity.

In a statement published on Wednesday, the Parliament’s animal protection group says it opposes the organisation of a small carnivore hunting competition planned for the coming weekend in Suomussalmi. In the competition, teams will compete to see which team can kill the most small carnivores within a given time.

The Parliamentary Animal Welfare Group is a cross-party and informal network focusing on animal welfare issues.

The group calls for the organiser to withdraw the competition and for the next revision of the hunting law to consider whether such competitions should be banned by law.

According to the position of the animal protection group, killing animals should not be entertainment under any circumstances.

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Parliament’s animal protection group condemns the weekend hunting competition in SuomussalmiRead More »

The mother bear that was moving around Eno in North Karelia, injured by a small carnivore, has remained hidden from people for almost four months. There have been no attempts to save the bear recently.

The mother bear that injured herself in a small carnivore no longer has a termination order in North Karelia.

According to the Eastern Finland police, the latest order to kill the bear expired last week. It was not renewed because there have been no sightings of the bear for almost four months.

The fate of the injured bear has interested animal welfare people all over Finland. The animal was first seen with a small predator in its paw last summer, when it was followed by four small puppies.

– Berry pickers and mushroom pickers didn’t notice it, neither did elk hunters. There have also been game cameras in the bear’s movement area in Enon Sarving, but this particular animal has not been seen, says Pohjolainen.

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The injured bear no longer has a termination order in North Karelia – the animal is believed to have died or gone into hibernationRead More »

The Finnish Environment Institute is looking for sightings of a tiny invasive species, the mud crab. It is not a new species in Finland either, as the first sightings date back to 2009.

The Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) is looking for sightings of a tiny invasive species, the mud crab, that has appeared on the Finnish coast.

Introduced from North America in 2009, the crab has continued to spread in Finland, first to the Gulf of Finland, but also further up the Gulf of Bothnia. So far, the northernmost sightings have been made in the Rauma area.

– I’m sure it will turn up there at some point. It runs both north and east. So it is possible that in a few years it will also be found on the coast of Vaasa,” says Lehtiniemi.

The latest sightings of crayfish are from Kirkkonummi, Espoo and near Helsinki in late summer. The approximately two-centimeter-long species belonging to pocket crabs is also familiar from the waters of Åland.

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Flame crab spreading northwards – Vaasaankank is a possible sighting siteRead More »

The number of Asian elephants across the continent has halved since the mid-20th century.

The population of the endangered Asian elephant has doubled to around 360 individuals in the past 25 years in China, according to the Yunnan Provincial Forestry and Plains Bureau.

One part of the effort to increase the number of Asian elephants has been the Xishuangbanna area team, which has rescued and cared for more than 20 wild elephants since 2008.

Specimens arriving at the Xishuangbanna Asian Elephant Breeding and Rescue Centre are often wounded. In addition to rehabilitation, the animals are helped to regain their survival skills by taking them out into the wild to exercise.

The Asian elephant is the continent’s largest land animal, whose daily routine includes eating, playing and sleeping. To survive, an adult elephant must spend two-thirds of the day eating grass and roots.

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China’s Asian elephant population has doubled in 25 years – video shows how wounded elephants are rehabilitatedRead More »

Mud crab can affect native species in the Baltic Sea. The Finnish Environment Institute is asking people to report sightings of mud crab, especially in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and the Gulf of Bothnia.

Flame crabs continue to spread in Finland. It has now been sighted as far away as the Helsinki Metropolitan area, says the release.

The mud crab, a native of North America, first appeared in Naantali waters in 2009. From there it spread to the Saaristomer, where the crab population is most abundant.

For a long time, the crabs did not spread from there, but in late summer they were spotted off Kirkkonummi, Espoo and Helsinki.

Crabs have also spread in the Gulf of Pohjanlahti, and the northernmost sightings have been made in the Rauma region. In addition, they live in the waters of Åland, says Syke.

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Flame crab came to Finland from North America and is now spreading to new areas – how to identify the invasive species that Syke is looking for sightings ofRead More »