The Environmental Board (Keskonnaamet) presented the initial quota, which may be increased based on new data and damage reports.

The Environmental Agency (Keskonnaagentuur), a separate body, had proposed 96 wolves as an initial quota, based on the number of known wolf litters and the need to maintain the balance between the wolf and its prey and to reduce pressure in livestock farming areas.

The difference is because 12 wolves had already been culled under special permits issued ahead of the hunting season.

The Environmental Agency also stated the wolf population size in mainland Estonia remains at between 20–30 breeding packs, evenly distributed between suitable habitats, with priority given to preserving wolf packs inhabiting larger natural landscapes to ensure the species' ecological viability, the Environmental Board noted in its order.

Last season, the cull quota was 134 wolves to be hunted in three phases, with 118 wolves being hunted by the end of the season, mainly since start of wolf hunting was suspended for almost two months by court order following a complaint filed by an animal rights NGO, MTÜ Eesti Suurkiskjad.

This made last wolf cull season the shortest ever, even as the second-tier Tallinn Circuit Court annulled the interim injunction on December 23 last year, meaning the season started at Christmas time, though Tanel Türna, head of the hunting and aquatic fauna bureau at the Environmental Board, called the result "quite good," adding the quota had been nearly 90 percent fulfilled.

The 2025-2026 cull quota was set at a meeting on October 29, with other factors taken into consideration including the usual variations in wolf population growth and the fact that the numbers of the wolf's main prey species — roe deer, wild boar, and elk — have fallen in recent years.

The order, signed by Leelo Kukk, Deputy Director General of the Environmental Board, noted that the members of the hunting cooperation council which met to discuss the quota had raised no objections on the final figure, given the wolf population level is, according to the Environmental Agency, similar compared to previous years.

Regionally speaking, Hiiumaa's hunting council made a proposal to the Environmental Board not to cull any wolves, while the hunting councils of Ida-Viru, Jõgeva, Järva, Lääne, Lääne-Viru, Põlva, Valga, and Võru counties, plus Saaremaa, found the wolf cull quota should be slightly higher than the recommendation in the Environmental Agency's wildlife survey report; Tartu County's hunting council cull figure proposal matched the agency's figure, while the Harju, Pärnu, Rapla, and Viljandi counties' councils opted not to put any figure on the proposed wolf cull.

The wolf hunting season runs November 1 to the end of the following February.

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