The bragging of two Danish fishermen about the size of their catch can finally be confirmed, as they scoop the world record for the biggest shark hooked on a rod. Weighing in at 880 kilos and measuring four metres and 10 cm, the Somniosus microcephalus, also known as the Eqalussuaq or Greenland shark, was landed in Norway’s Bokna Fjord. The catch broke the previous record of a 775-kilo beast caught on a fishing rod. Read the full story

Ptarmigan hunting in Iceland went very well during the season which has just finished – perhaps a little too well for some hunters. Read the full story

Greenland and Canada have agreed to work together to co-manage their joint polar bear population. Read the full story

The European Union has placed a “seal ban” which prohibits the import of seal products into the EU market. This greatly affects nations that have high Inuit populations which often rely on the seal trade. The Inuit nations call this act by the EU unjustified and cynical, according to SivuNews. Read the full story

The European Parliament has passed a measure banning the import of all products made from seals into its 27 member countries. Special exceptions are allowed for products exported from traditional Inuit hunters in Greenland and Canada. Read the full story

A recent proposal approved by a European Parliament subcommittee would prohibit all EU nations from importing any seal products. This would be an economic blow to Canada, which holds the world’s largest yearly commercial seal hunt, as well as Greenland, which has a heritage of seal hunting. Read the full story

A particularly determined woodpecker on the island of Oland has gone on a pecking frenzy, creating dozens of fist-sized holes in several houses in the town of Tornbotten. The problem has become so bad that residents of this quiet island off south eastern Sweden have asked local authorities for permission to shoot the bird dead.

Speaking to the newspaper Expressen, Leif Johansson explained that his house has been repeatedly targeted by the woodpecker, and his frustration is boiling over. “There are fist-sized holes in the houses…it costs money to replace those boards. If it makes a hole in my house I need to tear down a whole wall. This woodpecker is totally out of its mind.”

Read the full story

Recent remarks by Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf XVI that wolves should be hunted in Sweden immediately raised cries of concern from local members of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). Speaking to journalists last week, the King stated that he was not against the idea of allowing Sweden’s wolves to be hunted out of a concern that the nation’s wolf population could potentially “explode.”

Read the full story

Since its first sighting in 2006 in the forests south of Oslo, Norway’s rare albino moose known as “Albin” has become something of a national mascot. But a group of hunters recently threatened to shoot the creature if they can find it, reports the newspaper Aftenposten.

The moose has been seen around Valer, Spydeberg, Skiptvet and Svinndal over the past 2 years. Norway’s moose Read the full story

Last week Norway officially stated that it would not be able to catch enough whales this year to meet its allocated quota. Few nations still allow whaling, and animal activists are jumping on this opportunity to claim that this is proof Norway should abandon the highly controversial act of whaling.

Since the opening of this year’s whaling season on April 1, Norwegian fishermen have only been able to catch half of the number of whales allowed by government authorities. 533 minke whales have been caught out of an allowed quota of 1,052. The whaling season ended on August 31, and local fishermen were already admitting that they would fall far short of the quota weeks in advance, according to The Guardian.

Read the full story