Posible captura ilegal de vida silvestre en Finlandia

SUBJECT: “Possible illegal trapping of wildlife in Finland”

SOURCE: Anonymous

DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Lead (Grade 2)

COLLECTION DATE: December 30, 2015

ACTION: Shared with our partner in Finland

TEXT (redacted):

On 25.12.2015 I came across a location in a forest in Finland where multiple animal traps were present and set; several smaller cages to trap meso-predators such as raccoon dog, badger, fox, and one large cage which is of main concern. This cage contained as bait a dead raccoon dog and some added unidentified intestines. The cage can easily trap for instance a wolf or lynx, although the latter probably doesn’t feed on dead animals. In addition there was a place with lots of animal carcasses, mainly badgers, raccoon-dogs, moose skin and some moose feet. These remains were covered by a metal netting, such that birds of prey can still feed on them (e.g. golden eagle, sea eagle and goshawk). Nearby were 2 shooting places, of which one of them was aimed at this dead animal ‘storage’. Also close-by was a storage of all kinds of animal intestines in an open plastic barrel. The location of this place is here and in the very near surrounding forest (< 100m): N 6878932 E 351898 this is in ETRS-TM35FIN coordinates. This is in Finland in the Ruovesi municipality. Underneath the a main powerline between the hills Kivimäki and Isomäki near the hamlet of Hanho. The ownership of that particular land is not known to me. I did not like to hang around the area too long, so I’ve only done a short sweep of the nearby forest and took a few quick pics, which I will add here.

Files description (shared with partner but not shown here, only on request):

Picture 25122015_1 shows the large trap with a raccoon dog as bait (the trap was in the forest approximately 25m east from the location with the dead animals) picture 25122015_2 shows a few of the dead animals under the netting (2 badgers and multiple raccoon dogs) picture 25122015_3 shows a more of the dead animals under the netting (at least 3 badgers and multiple raccoon dogs and moose remains (not all animals were identified)) picture 25122015_4 more of the location with the netting, moose skin and other animal parts picture 25122015_5 the whole setting with all the carcasses.