As my interest in wolves begins to grow and grow I tend to
look into a possible wolf reintroduction in Scotland and wonder about it.
Should it happen? Moreover can it happen? It seems that this is a discussion
that occurs every so often and the media publish it but then it just dies out.
While a few die hard groups still advocate for it, the idea in general hasn’t
been discussed for a while. I decided to tell you my opinion on the matter.
I will start with the most common of all arguments. Scotland
and the rest of the UK have too many deer.
This article
basically sets up the scene as 50% of the deer need to cull in the UK. It’s no
secret that ecosystems and communities need a balance and in my opinion
Scotland does not have a balanced ecosystem. Deer are way too numerous here and
that is damaging the ecosystem as deer are not hunted by anyone other than
humans. Thus a lot more numbers and so a lot more damage to the ecosystem.
Although other carnivores could be reintroduced, the other candidates are the
lynx and the bear and although they will impact deer movement, no one could do
it better than the wolf. Wolf reintroduction
advocates say wolves will provide some restoration to the system and that they
are needed.
Although I agree with the point above there are other things
to keep in mind. Reintroductions won’t happen unless the people want it to.
Clearly you have the two fronts, farmers, livestock owners and hikers
worrying about the wolf, and the advocates and conservationists who wish for
the return of the wolf. But there is
more to the story. What about the average Scot? Will he/she be affected?
Although wolves are not as elusive as the cat family, they can be quite elusive
and it is only when they want to be seen that they will be seen. However due to
the proximity of villages/town to wilderness in Scotland it is very likely that
encounters with wolves will happen. The problem is that these stories may be
exaggerated and demonize the wolf. A recent article put foxes in the spot as
one fox attacked a child in the UK. Although these encounters are minimum, they
can serve as an argument against wolf reintroduction or wolf shooting to occur
if wolves were to be reintroduced. Of course on the other hand people on those
rural areas could benefit as reintroduction could mean more tourism which is
wolf based and so more money.
People tend to take examples of real life and almost
everyone uses Yellowstone National Park and the wolf reintroduction there to
argue their case. I won’t argue that Yellowstone is perhaps one of the most
studied areas when it comes to wolf reintroduction but I highly doubt that what
happened in Yellowstone will happen in Scotland. Yellowstone is a large area
where more wildernesses surround it. The reason why wolves thrive there was
because they have space. Wolf packs will travel large distances (up to 50km) for
hunting and wolf packs also require vast areas for themselves. Although the European
wolf tends to form small packs and break up over summer it is no doubt that
wolves will spread eventually. And that is where the problems begin in my
opinion. Wolves may not stay put in the areas you have designated for them.
Wolves may spread and make their home near countryside towns or pastures and go
into places people may not want them. The least we want is for wolves to become
rural or urban pests. You have to also bear in mind that ICUN guidelines
strictly state that reintroductions should be done with animal welfare in mind
so it will be unfair if reintroduced wolf packs end up getting shot. The problem is that wolves in Scotland won’t
have the space they had in Yellowstone or in North America in general.
What is more Scotland already has a great deal of issues
going on with their wildlife. The Scottish wildcat is in danger of going
extinct while the American mink is invading the Scottish countryside and it’s
forests. In addition more red squirrels are being driven to extinction by the
grey squirrels and deer ran rampant, hybridizing and destroying habitats.
Although the wolf may solve a few of these problems, I believe that Scotland
needs to spend resources in order to manage the wilderness better. These
resources will probably be better allocated to such plans in order to set up
some sort of balance to the system as of present. Then letter in time perhaps
these resources could be allocated to wolf reintroduction. But for now the wolf’s
best chance is for an initiative that would work on a variety of programs to restore
the Scottish wilderness.
