In Kouvola and other regions of southern Finland, dozens of hunting hides have been destroyed or sabotaged in recent months.
The damage ranges from the demolition of entire towers to the deliberate sawing of load-bearing parts, which can be life-threatening for hobby hunters.
In addition to Kouvola, Sipoo, Porvoo and southwest Finland are also affected, as the Finnish portal “ yle ” reported.
The Southeastern Finnish police have filed three criminal charges so far and advise amateur hunters every tree stand it. Similar cases occurred last fall, but investigations were discontinued due to a lack of information about the perpetrators.
The animal rights group Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for several of these actions via email. They stated that they wanted to make hunting more difficult, but did not intentionally set traps. However, in Sipoo, damage was discovered that could potentially have led to cave-ins.
It is not part of our work processes to build traps from deer towers, and if this were to happen anywhere, we would condemn the actions, the organization writes.
Hunting associations such as the Elimäki Game Management Association and the Paukku Association view the sabotage as a targeted attack by anti-hunting activists. For them, reconstruction will involve considerable work and expense, especially since hunting begins in October.