Is Scotland ready for wolves?

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.