"I probably should have expected something like this, since I stood forward in the newspapers as one of the participants in the hunting team," Per Arild Ås told newspaper Aftenposten.

Ås, who works as a taxi driver in the eastern town of Atna, received the following letter, roughly translated, in the mail:

"Dear degenerated wolf hunter. You will be the next to fall. We only have 24 wolves left. We have enough taxi drivers. We especially have enough of pigs like you. When we're finished with our job, there will be one less taxi driver in Atna. You can take this as an empty threat, or you can watch your back when you're out among people."

The letter was signed "Johan Sevrinsen." Ås said he didn't know anybody by that name, and doubts it's the sender's correct name.

Ås views the letter as a clear threat, and planned to report it to the police on Wednesday.

"I'm not scared to death by this, but I must admit that it's not very nice," he said. "I live alone and understand that people with families and children don't want to be identifed in such cases.

"On the other hand, it's terrible to receive such threatening letters when you're taking part in a completely legal hunt," he said.

State wildlife authorities authorized the hunt after residents in eastern Norway reported the killings of domestic pets and livestock. Debate has raged at the political level, with the Labour Party supporting the hunt and its potential government partner, the Socialist Left, condemning it.

Environmental groups remain firmly opposed to hunting wolves, which have been reestablishing themselves after near extinction.