Wolf Trust Highland Recovery - About Wolves - British Wolves - Why Reintroduce - For & Against - Why The Highlands - Timeliness - How Many Wolves - Reintro Scheme Summary Until recently wolves were thought of as evil, but there are many positive reasons for reintroducing them. Web Address www.wolftrust.org.uk Email Address Wolf Trust

Why Reintroduce Wolves To Britain? People despised the wolf as a symbol of the wilderness they sought to dominate, believed wolves were in league with the devil, and saw wolves as a mortal threat to people, livestock and game. Thus it was civilization's duty to destroy them... The Highlands: five sisters of Kintail. Courtesy Scottish Panoramic ...but there are good reasons for reintroducing wolves: Natural Heritage "The grey wolf (Canis lupus) is a fundamental part of the European natural heritage for its symbolic, scientific, ecological, educational, cultural, recreational, aesthetic and intrinsic value."  (from the Bern Convention; also see Wolf Manifesto). Conservation Rights A tenet of wolf conservation is that wolves have a right to exist in viable populations in the wild. Ecological Deer over-populate the Highlands. They eat and trample everything, thus preventing the forest and flora regenerating and disrupting the animals dependent on these plants. A wolf recovery will help regulate deer numbers and grazing patters allowing the flora and fauna to revive. A wolf reintroduction is a major step to restore the Highlands' natural integrity. Wolves Go Beyond Deer Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone (USA) in the mid-1990's, 70 years after people exterminated them. They appear to have a disproportionate influence restoring Yellowstone's disrupted wildlife - Lessons from the Wolf. Economic Wolves will generate income and local employment in the Highlands through wolf ecotourism. Wildlife ecotourism might replace the declining and uneconomic sheep industry in the Highlands. Wolves can help pay for themselves and any depredation through a fund drawn on wolf ecotourism. Threat To People Wolves are not the threat to human life that myth and ignorance ascribe to them (Linnell et al 2002; McNay 2002; Mech 1991). Threat To Livestock Wolves do not pose a threat to livestock industries (at least in the US), although they can be of consequence to individual farmers (Fritts et al 1992; Mech 1995; Bangs et al 2001). European Conventions European conventions, to which Britain is a party, require the British government to consider the possibility of reintroducing wolves and to enact legislation to facilitate reintroduction. Natural Evolution Deer evolved their agile, sleek and swift qualities to escape wolf predation. Highland deer have lost their natural predator and this development ceased. Deer can re-start their natural evolution when wolves are reintroduced. Living With Nature We must learn to share the environment with free-roaming wildlife instead of bottling its remnants into a few tiny and often ineffective reserves while we dominate the rest of the land. Setting Examples Conservation is not for Third World countries alone. We cannot tell poor countries to conserve their large predators if we cannot do so ourselves. Wolves in Britain and Europe are what tigers are to India and what wild dogs are to southern Africa. A pack of wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) on the African savannah. If Africans can live with wild dogs why can't Britons live with wolves? Courtesy Gerald & Buff Corsi, California Academy of Sciences. CalPhoto. Neighbourliness Human encroachment is gobbling up the last wild places worldwide; therefore we must develop the will and knowledge to let big wildlife - lions, tigers, wolves, etc - live among us instead of banishing them to hardly viable wildlife parks. Britain can show the world how a well populated developed country can live with a large predator. Monopoly Other places, like Africa, should not have a monopoly on big game. We have our own biggies, or should do, such as wolf, bear and lynx. We Like Them We like wolves and their world and simply want them back in Britain. Wolves are important to us and for future generations to appreciate - whether or not they exist elsewhere in the world. Atonement A wolf recovery is atonement for past ignorant and misguided human behaviour to wolves and wildlife in Britain. European Recolonisation Finally, wolves have begun to recolonise western Europe but cannot return unaided to this island. Now is our opportunity to take part in the European wolf recovery by doing our bit in Britain. We should extend a helping hand. Have you read all this? So now read two more reasons for reintroducing wolves. Also see Wolf Benefits. And see arguments against a wolf reintroduction: For & Against Invitation References Bangs E & Shivik J (2001): Managing wolf conflict with livestock in the Northwestern United State. Carnivore Damage Prevention News, 3, 3-5. Bern Convention: Recommendation No. 17 (1989) of the standing committee of the protection of the wolf (Canis lupus) in Europe. Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. Council of Europe. ('Bern Convention' is an unofficial shorthand name for this Convention.) Fritts S H, Paul W J, Mech L D & Scott D P (1992): Trends and management of wolf-livestock conflicts in Minnesota. US Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Resource Publications 181. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. Linnell J D C et al (2002): The fear of wolves: a review of wolf attacks on humans. NINA Oppdragsmelding, 731, 1-65. McNay N E (2002): A Case History of Wolf-Human Encounters in Alaska.. Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Wildlife Technical Bulletin 13. Mech L D (1991): The way of the wolf. Swan Hill Press, Shrewsbury. Mech L D (1995): The challenge and opportunity of recovering wolf populations. Conservation Biology, 9 (2), 270-278. Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. Page revised 8.05

Point 3 Wolf predation can influence the animals and plants of an entire region. For example, wolves eat deer, who adapt their feeding patterns to avoid wolves by keeping out of places like woods and dips where they cannot see wolves coming. The vegetation in such places is then able to grow and other animals dependent on this vegetation can flourish. Point 9 "Morality and perhaps our very survival require that we learn to live as one species among many rather than as one species over many." - Dale Jamieson Against Zoos in Peter Singer In Defence Of Animals, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.