Abundance of brown bears and wolves in central south Norway after 1733 as revealed by bounty records

Abstract

Disbursements for bounties were made locally in Norway from 1733 to 1845 for the killing of brown bears (Ursus arctos) and wolves (Canis lupus). More than 3000 bounty records of these two species from 19 parishes in central south Norway were analysed. The greatest number of bounties paid per unit of area was found in forested areas in the lowland. The number of bounties paid was positively correlated with the size of forested areas and negatively with the density of people and their wealth, represented by the number of cows per inhabitant. The gradient of the regression lines for bounties paid in relation to time in the period 1738 - 1815 was negative, even after correcting for inflation, suggesting that the bounty system caused a slow decrease in the populations of both brown bears and wolves during the 18th century. The introduction of better firearms after about 1850 led to an abrupt decline in the wolf population, which was nearly exterminated around 1870. The brown bear survived a few decades longer, but was also gradually reduced to very small numbers in the beginning of the 20th century.