Farmers argue that a new compensation system acts as a disincentive for them to report wolf attacks, distorting the true extent of the problem, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.

While the number of wolves in Estonia has surged, official data reveals a dramatic decline in reported sheep killings.

Throughout the whole of last year, a total of 1,411 sheep were killed by wolves, yet by November of this year, that number had fallen to around 800 with just a few weeks to go.

Farmers, however, claim that the real toll is much higher, suggesting that many attacks are going unreported due to the new compensation structure.

Eero Praks, a sheep farmer from Rapla County, said: "I've lost count of the number. I think we've reached 20 attacks this year alone."

"In the past, there used to be one or two attacks a year, but the number has risen sharply over the past couple of years," he went on.

Praks, like many others, stopped reporting slaughtered sheep after the government altered the compensation system.

Under the new rules, compensation is only provided for the first three attacks and on a sliding scale: Ninety percent after the first attack, 70 percent after the second, falling to 50 percent after the third.

No compensation is offered for the fourth or subsequent attacks.

Timo Kark, head of biodiversity protection at the Ministry of Climate, defended the changes, arguing that they incentivize farmers to take stronger preventive measures.

He said: "We can't keep paying for these damages indefinitely."

"Preventive measures must be implemented to reduce losses," Kark went on.

However, Kark conceded that wolves can still find a way around these defensive measures, while the government's ability to track the real number of attacks is indeed compromised by underreporting.

"The more we know about the damage, the better we can understand the problems," Kark added.

Praks meanwhile said: "Maybe it's time to start discussing whether Estonia should become a sheep-free country."

This would however concerns about how the state would maintain those deforested agricultural areas such as there are, which depend largely on sheep farming, at a time while agriculture in Estonia still lags behind that of its western counterparts.

The climate ministry has stated it opposes a nationwide wolf cull.

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