The European Union has finished 5.5 metres high fence on its border with Russia and Belarus which is basically entrapping the wolves in the Baltic states where for years wolves had been slaughtered well above their biological capacity to compensate the kill rate. 

In 2024/2025 season there were allowed to kill 341 wolves in Lithuania, 300 wolves in Latvia and 134 wolves in Estonia (in the summer 2024 Estonian authorities were planning to allow to kill 200 wolves). That is, now there are allowed to kill 775 wolves in the Baltic states. It is obvious that this killing rate cannot continue without the reduction in wolf population sizes in all three Baltic states as the wolf population can compensate ~ 25% kill rate (Creel 2015 December) without incoming adult wolves from adjacent territories. The Poland - Lithuania border length is 103 km. It takes only 5 wolf families  around Lithuania - Poland border area to slow down the traffic of dispersing wolves from Poland into Lithuania. The average wolf family territory size is ~ 400 km2 there and wolves mark their territory’s borders every 100 metres. As there’s no wolf hunting in Poland since 1998 then their wolf family size consists of more adult wolves than in heavily hunted wolf populations in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. 

If wolf population size decreased in all three Baltic states during 1990s then the same can be expected in near future as there will not be that many incoming adult wolves in Lithuania from Poland and Latvia depends on Lithuania to compensate it’s excessive wolf killing rate. 

Also, the hunter lobby supports a recommendation to allow unlimited wolf hunting in 2/3 of Latvia’s territory which will ensure the separate isolated wolf pockets in Latvia and Estonia. The same is expected to happen in Lithuania as there are less forests and bogs/swamps for wolves to escape from the intense hunting pressure. 

Wolf killing in the Baltic states is promoted as a role-model by hunter organizations throughout Europe.

Photo credit: Māris Puķītis 

Additional information:

Easy prey: Why Europe’s wolves are back on the endangered list

EU countries are playing ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ with the Commission as they inflate population figures to secure more hunts.

Bárbara Machado  
March 24, 2025
https://www.euractiv.com/section/eet/news/europes-current-wolf-hunts-and-the-executive-that-wont-prevent-extinction/