Survey - attitudes towards a hypothetical fenced wolf reintroduction

[jcampbellsmith]

This was part of an ADMG mail shot recently. Perhpas folk would like to contribute? Marta Lamorgese is a final year master student in Environmental Management & Policy at Lund University with a background in Zoology (BSc Honours, University of Glasgow). For her master thesis she is investigating the factors shaping Scottish countryside attitudes towards a hypothetical fenced wolf reintroduction, and potential ways forward. The research is being carried out completely independently from the Scottish Government and does not reflect by any means an interest from the latter in wolf reintroduction. Because she says bringing back wolves would have direct effects on deer populations, their management, and related activities like stalking she has a survey on attitudes towards experimental wolf reintroduction and is hoping that a number of those in the sector will take time to complete this. It should take 15-20 minutes to complete, and respondents can opt in for a follow-up interview and enter a £50 Amazon gift card raffle. Among other stakeholder groups, Marta is particularly interested in the opinions of deer professionals (ie involved in the venison industry, deer stalking, population management etc) and rural residents. Regards JCS

 

[Pete1774]

Introducing wolves into an overcrowded island like the UK is just plain daft. They won't stay fenced for long and then we'll have farm livestock being killed and probably humans eventually. If the wolves are fenced in then how are they going to catch deer? The fenced area would need to be massive and would effectively be a no-go area for people. The ever increasing number of wild boar should be a lesson learned.

 

[VSS]

Introducing wolves into an overcrowded island like the UK is just plain daft. They won't stay fenced for long and then we'll have farm livestock being killed and probably humans eventually. If the wolves are fenced in then how are they going to catch deer? The fenced area would need to be massive and would effectively be a no-go area for people. The ever increasing number of wild boar should be a lesson learned.

No need to actually introduce wolves at all. Just build up loads of hype about it, plenty of scare stories about people being killed and eaten, throw in a bit of the supernatural for good measure (werewolves), and then announce "we've done it!" in as convincing a manner as possible.
Rural crime would fall instantly, as would trespass in the countryside. The "right to roam" would be abandoned. The Rambler's Association would hold all it's gatherings indoors, and groups of disruptive youths would go home in the evenings instead of hanging around the village bus shelter.
Bring it on, I say!

 

[devon deer stalker]

For god's sake save us from these over educated fools with zero common sense.
I suggest she gets some cash together (I'm sure she could raise it through a gofundme account from like minded fools) and take a flight over to the western states of America, any input @Muir ?
Great solution, deer first, then sheep, then peoples dogs....

Fenced area, what a joke, the Beavers that appeared on the river Otter were supposed to be 'fenced' and look what happened down here.

 

[BenBhoy]

I know of one idiot from fieldsports community (notice I said fieldsports & not rural community) who has said before how much they'd love that release as it'd give them something else to hunt/kill

 

[Rake Aboot]

Good reason for a 45-120 Sharps?

 

[User00036]

Bring it on I say, always fancied a wolf fur jacket, so I can wear it into vegan restaurants & ask for a veggie burger.

 

[308tikka]

Hypothetical managed release would result in a hypothetical shoot on sight policy once the inevitable breakout occurred.

Im not saying Im in favour of that, hypothetically, or for their reintroduction either, just an observer of a hypothetical situation.

 

[User00053]

Great idea, all for it for the entertainment value.

 

[Scotty99]

Wolves were hunted to extinction on these islands several hundred years ago for a reason, they were a continuing threat to humans and their livestock. Nothing has changed apart from the fact that the human population has increased exponentially and the available habitat has decreased exponentially. So no reason even to consider it.

 

[slider]

If you have a vested interest please respond but do so carefully as the questions appear somewhat skewed

 

[User00040]

Been done before!

 

[Donkey Basher]

Some years back wolves were released in an area of Sweden close to the Norwegian border where some friends of mine lived, at the time shooting a wolf in Norway would get you a term in the clink. Inevitably the wolves didn't respect the border & soon migrated to Norway where they decided it was a lot easier to catch & eat sheep than it was deer, elg, etc. In the area I was invited to hunt in two local farmers were arrested & given jail sentences for shooting wolves. Roll on 5 years & my Norwegian hunting licence included wolves!

Just saying.

 

[BenBhoy]

If you have a vested interest please respond but do so carefully as the questions appear somewhat skewed

I've completed, yeah some seem to swap the order of your flow a bit

 

[baguio]

Remind me how it went when we brought in and kept captive, muntjac, grey squirrels, boar, signal cray fish and all of the others. It's an accident waiting to happen!

 

[VSS]

Remind me how it went when we brought in and kept captive, muntjac, grey squirrels, boar, signal cray fish and all of the others. It's an accident waiting to happen!

A much more exciting accident though!

 

[John Gryphon]

The ever increasing number of wild boar should be a lesson learned.

Aided no doubt by "accidental releases"

Good reason for a 45-120 Sharps?

A .220 Swift will do you far better.

Bring it on I say, always fancied a wolf fur jacket, so I can wear it into vegan restaurants & ask for a veggie burger.

Best answer yet.

A much more exciting accident though!

Yes exactly, in 10 years time getting a wolf licence would be great.

 

[Bowland blades]

Utter lunacy ! There are very good reasons we got rid and now we have a far-far higher human population cars and roads and a vast amount of our grassland has sheep and cows on it !

 

[jimmer.13]

Wolves…….. outstanding idea I think bears and big cats as well preferably tigers…… I really like tigers

 

[jimmer.13]

Tigers should only be released in inner city’s though