The Swedish Hunters Association : a friend or a foe of the Swedish wolf?

Abstract: The Swedish Hunters Association (SHA) is an influential actor in Swedish wildlife management – it is both a powerful interest organization for hunters, and it has been given a major influence by the Swedish state, to be responsible for executing a considerable part of the wildlife management in the country. The association does however seem to have indeed disparate values and perspectives connected to different kinds of animals. The SHA does for example officially state that they want the population of wolves to be very strict, partly because of the wolves many times competing interests with hunters. Having the associations powerful position in mind and adding that previous research indicate a many times complex relationship between hunters and predators, this study was aiming to get a deeper insight into how the SHA perceives the wolf and the management of it and then discuss what these findings might have on a societal context. By engaging in Norman Faircloghs’ critical discourse analysis, which main purpose is to discover unequal power balances, documents produced by the SHA concerning wolves in Sweden were analysed with a focus on the discourses that are underlying their argumentations and ideas. The findings showed that the authors of the articles consistently provided a negative image of both the wolf itself and all potential consequences of having a wolf population. Any kinds of positive features connected to wolves were absent in the texts and the discourses emerging were all functioning to support the agenda of the SHA and to dismiss any conflicting perspectives provided by opponents. It is however likely to believe that the SHA plays an important role in society, representing the perspectives of hunters and other people experiencing negative consequences of the wolf. Their aversion towards wolves does appear problematic though, given their powerful influence on Swedish wildlife management. Their strictly anthropocentric view on wildlife management, which seems to be based on a perception that animals should be managed based on their importance and relation towards hunters, could be a serious threat towards the Swedish wolf population and the goals of Swedish wildlife management.