He took up the position of Cromwell's Fish & Game officer, covering the Manuherikia and Wanaka catchments, last week.
Brought up on a cattle farm on the island of Gotland, Mr Gabrielsson has always enjoyed animals and wildlife.
The first 10 years of his career were spent in the Swedish Army, mainly serving in Kosovo and Bosnia.
Mr Gabrielsson was first drawn to New Zealand when he saw an advertisement in a magazine.
There were ‘‘beautiful photos of stunning Central Otago'' and an explanation about the many wonderful hunting and fishing opportunities in the region.
A contact number for Queenstown's Fish & Game officer Tom Kroos was at the end of the article.
After making the call, Mr Gabrielsson visited the area in 1998 on what he called ‘‘an extended fishing holiday''. On that trip, he met Anne Gilchrist, of Roxburgh, who was studying at the then Dunedin College of Education.
They married in Sweden in 2002 followed by a second service in Dunedin when they returned there that year.
The couple have a nine-month-old boy, Hector.
‘‘So it feels like I've come around full circle again,'' Mr Gabrielsson said.
‘‘Now, 10 years later, I've taken over a job in that very region.''
While studying wildlife management at the University of Otago he began doing volunteer work for Fish & Game, which led to shortterm research projects for them.
When a Central Otago Fish and Game officer moved to Dunedin, Mr Gabrielsson was offered the position, along with the opportunity to continue his research for a masters degree at university part-time.
‘‘Working up here certainly makes you fall in love with the place.
‘‘I felt at home here straight away . . . the landscapes, the people and the wildlife.''
‘‘We're looking forward to moving into the region at the end of May or early June.''
The work he was doing with Fish and Game was a ‘‘natural progression'' of his wildlife studies and living in the region was ideal for bringing up a family, he said.
‘‘It feels like I've got a chance to raise my kids the way I was raised.''
