This decision is probably for political reasons in favour of two groups within Norway: hunters who probably want to shoot more deer and elk or perhaps moose and

This decision is probably for political reasons in favour of two groups within Norway: hunters who probably want to shoot more deer and elk or perhaps moose and the Saami who get paid by the state based on the number of reindeer they have roaming the tundra in the mountains and the north of the country. Not sure if the latter is still the case. When I last visited the far north the effects of overgrazing by reindeer were starting to be severe in places. The densities of reindeer are pretty high so wolves would have a spectacularly easy time and would do very well as a result.