Wolf Management: Non-lethal Control
10. Conclusions
Despite hi-tech innovations the most effective non-lethal protection against wolf depredation may still be good husbandry and shepherding, backed up by guarding animals and fences where appropriate. Compensation - payment depending on effective husbandry - seems to be essential. Zoning may be a good strategy if sufficiently flexible to encompass the needs of both wolves and man. Contraception is promising but lies in the future, at least for large wolf populations.
An important aspect of depredation is to research and understand its causes and methods of prevention. Unfortunately at present, very little research has been carried out to understand depredation and most non-lethal methods for controlling wolves have not been methodically or thoroughly tested.
Non-lethal control will only work sometimes and in certain circumstances. Wolves are expanding their range in the US and Europe so we can expect wolf-human conflicts to increase. The problem is that we are largely ill-equipped to deal with such conflicts in non-lethal ways. Therefore we have to be realistic and acknowledge that some wolves will be killed as part of management.
But we must be optimistic. Living with wolves creates challenges. We should admit there are disagreements between wolves and people, understand what they are, and by making efforts endeavour to resolve them. People, through their attitudes and behaviour, play the most important role in effective wolf management.
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