Sweden, Finland clash over wolf plan

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- A plan by Sweden to restore its wolf population with pups imported from neighboring countries has met resistance from Finland, officials said.

Finland is reluctant to contribute any of its wolf pups to Sweden's proposal to boost its domestic wolf population by importing wolf pups, Swedish news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyra reported Tuesday.

Finland's reluctance is thought to be because its own wolf population is small, TT said.

"From the Finnish perspective, we think that one should not move the wolf pups at all, any year," Pentti Lahteenoja of the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said.

Swedish environment minister Andreas Carlgren said decisions to add new wolves will be taken locally.

"We're now taking a collective step in order to get viable wolves," Carlgren said.

The importation of pups would start in April, he said.