LONDON

Sweden has approved the killing of 20% of its brown bear population in the country’s annual hunt, starting Wednesday, despite concerns from conservationists. 

Officials have granted licenses for 486 brown bears to be culled by hunters between Aug. 21 and Oct. 15.

This would bring the number of bears in the Nordic country down to approximately 2,000, which is a drop of almost 40% since 2008, according to official figures.

However, conservationists have warned that the hunt is more about “macho prestige” than keeping the predators to a safe level.

According to them, large predator populations in Europe could face collapse in some countries without proper protection.

“It is a pure trophy hunt,” Magnus Orrebrant, chair of the Swedish Carnivore Association was quoted as saying by The Guardian newspaper.

At the beginning of last century, brown bears were at the brink of extinction in Sweden, however, the Nordic country have managed to steadily recover the population from around 2,200 bears in 2000 to about 3,300 in 2008 as a result of protective measures introduced in 1927.

However, the population dropped to 2,450 bears after last year’s approved hunt in which 722 were killed.

“We are only following the directive of the Swedish government’s wildlife policy. It is all about a balance between humans and the large predators,” Magnus Rydholm, communications director for the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management told local reporters.

Brown bears are classified as a “strictly protected species” in Europe. Conservationists argue that the high number of hunting licenses issued by governments is in breach of the EU habitat directive, which states that “deliberate hunting or killing of strictly protected species is prohibited.”