More and more people will cherish predators – Dagbladet.no

The attitude among more and more Norwegians are predators protection should be strengthened in this country.

It turns District barometer as Sentio has commissioned for Nationen.

In the survey it emerged that 34 percent of all those surveyed want more protective of predators. Nationen asking the same question annually since 2009. The proportion of respondents who want more protection of predators have never been higher than in the present survey.

Ketil Skogen senior scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA ) and has researched attitudes towards predators. He believes the increase in the number of Norwegians who are positive to predators is linked to the development of society in general.

– There is an increasingly smaller part of the population that is related to direct natural resource exploitation, agriculture and rural economy. We go in the direction of a view of nature that is less focused on exploitation, and more that things must be done in harmony with nature. This also changes the attitudes of the factors affecting agriculture, such as predators, he says.

Figures from Environment Agency show that the number of sheep that it has been given a replacement for due rovvilttap has decreased with around 40 percent in recent years. In 2006 it was given compensation for 6762 sheep and 31,748 lambs. Last year it was paid compensation for 3,895 sheep and 19,669 lambs.

(NTB)