It has been announced that the Snowy Owl has been officially declared extinct in Sweden, marking the first bird species extinction in the country in twenty years.

BirdLife International has made the decision after over ten consecutive years with no confirmed nesting or breeding of the Snowy Owl in Sweden.

The Snowy Owl was once an iconic part of Sweden’s northern wilderness, where several hundred pairs nested in the mountains during the 1970s.

Unfortunately, breeding has declined sharply, with reproduction attempts failing after 2015 and no signs of nests or chicks of the species.

The bird still breeds outside Sweden, with breeding across the Arctic.

Image: Jongsun Lee, Wiki Commons