European wolf culls: Will it savage Scottish hopes for return?

It was a winter’s day in 1743 - at least, that’s how the story goes. A great gathering armed with bows, arrows, knives and hounds had been arranged to hunt the beast.

But much to the Laird of Macintosh’s increasing irritation, there was no sign of Macqueen.

What he didn’t know was that our hero was already on the case.

Eventually he arrived at the scene. Striding towards the gathering, he threw back his plaid to reveal the bloody and very dead head of Scotland’s last wolf.

The story has become embedded in Highland legend – whether it is actually true, though, remains up for debate.

Some suggest Scotland’s wolves had already been hunted to extinction much earlier, others that wolves were prowling woodlands and preying on cattle, sheep and children well into the 18th century.

A sheep bleating at an exhausted, hunted wolf. Etching by W-S Howitt. Wellcome Collection. Source: Wellcome Collection. (Image: Wellcome Collection)

Forward to now, though, and wolves have become a pin-up species among some rewilding enthusiasts who argue their return to Scotland could provide a natural solution to soaring numbers of red deer, boost biodiversity and right the ancient wrong that saw them hunted to extinction.

With many communities in Europe living side by side with wild wolves where their numbers have been allowed to grow due to strict protection rules, why couldn’t it happen here?

Beinhorn, a hamlet in the German region of Lower Saxony, is just one of several areas on the continent where the topic of wolves is a particularly sensitive one; it’s where, on a summer’s evening in 2022, a wolf pounced on a pony named Dolly and left the 30-year-old much-loved pet of President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, for dead.

That fuelled an already lively debate over what to do about growing numbers of wolves in a country that had thought it had seen its last wild wolf some time in the 1850s.

Having died out, wolves are thriving again partly due to the country’s reunification in 1990.

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Whereas it had been legal in old East Germany to hunt wolves that strayed across the border from Poland, the united Germany’s stance was to protect them, paving the way for their gradual return.

And return, they have. Germany is now said to have more than 160 wolf packs, numbering over 1,300 wolves.

It’s a similar story in neighbouring European countries: according to 2021 estimates of wolf numbers, Italy has more than 3,300, Romania nearly 3,000, Bulgaria more than 2,700 and Poland 1,880. In France, there are an estimated 783, with numbers across Europe said to be growing at a rate of a third every year.

In Finland, where estimates range from 150 up to 300 wolves, discussion has rumbled on over how many is too many and whether some should be culled. Slovenia has previously taken action and culled problem wolves; in November, the Government there confirmed it plans a new wolf management strategy for 2024, with "the rapid issuance of permits for culling".

And in Switzerland, where environmental groups celebrated the return of the first wild wolf 30 years ago when one strolled over the border from Italy, there are now at least 32 packs roaming the countryside, with upwards of 300 wolves.

Between 2019 and 2022, wolf attacks on livestock there tripled, leading farmers to clear livestock animals from alpine summer pastures in order to protect them.

Amid mounting concern, the Swiss government recently broke ranks to approve measures allowing the eradication of entire packs of wolves, amid suggestions the country might cope with 12 packs, but not 32.

Wildlife groups reacted with a legal challenge: last week it ended in court with the government plan for a cull put on hold.

But that victory for environmental groups may be short lived. The issue of wolves and how to control their numbers may be set to take a particularly dramatic leap forward.

Across Europe, tens of thousands of sheep, goats and cattle are either killed or wounded in attacks every year; in Germany, 4,366 farm animals were killed by wolves in 2022 alone, among them 30 horses and four llamas – a 30% rise on the previous year.

With the attack on the European Commission’s president’s pony, Dolly among the most high profile, recent weeks have seen confirmation that the Commission proposes to downgrade the wolf’s ‘strictly protected’ status meaning they can only be interfered with as a last resort to ‘protected’, potentially opening the door to wolf hunts to return.

“The comeback of wolves is good news for biodiversity in Europe. But the concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger especially for livestock,” said Ursula von der Leyen.

“I am deeply convinced that we can and will find targeted solutions to protect both, biodiversity and our rural livelihoods.”

The move has been met by outrage from conservationists who argue the commission’s plan is not based on scientific evidence.

A pack of hounds attacking a wolf ferociously in a forest. Etching with engraving by F. Joullain after A. F. Desportes. Desportes, François, 1661-1743 (Image: Wellcome Collection)

“The proposal reflects a strategic, opportunistic and political move which raises concerns about its motivations and alignment with genuine policy objectives,” said Léa Badoz of Eurogroup of Animals.

It has become more than a war of words: in some areas where wolves have become a particular issue, hunting shelters have been found and wolves illegally shot.

In one disturbing case in Lower Saxony, scene last year of more than 216 wolf attacks killing more than 600 animals, a bullet-strewn wolf’s carcass was found floating in a canal, followed days later by its head and tail.

In another, a wolf’s head was dumped on the pavement outside a nature conservation office, while Christian Meyer, the area’s Green environment minister claimed she had received death threats.

With wolves causing so much discomfort in Europe, is the suggestion that they might be reintroduced here to help control deer numbers, dead in the water?

Peter Cairns, Executive Director of rewilding group Scotland: The Big Picture, says: “To be clear, there is currently no (serious) discussion about wolves in Scotland.

“That is not to say that there is no support for their return - there is - but given the social and cultural barriers that exist in Scotland, it makes little sense to pursue a reintroduction at this time. 

“The events in Europe bring into sharp focus the challenge of human/wildlife coexistence, which as I’ve said before, is rarely an ecological challenge - wolves can live happily across most of Europe - but one driven by social, cultural and political norms.

“There is no doubt that the call for controlling wolves in Switzerland is politically motivated and was catalysed by a wolf attack on horses belonging to Ursula von der Leyen.

“Our vision for rewilding is built on ecosystem health, function and completeness. We believe that this relies on the presence of all native species, including all our missing predators, which includes wolves.”

The John Muir Trust has previously claimed there is “no ecological reason” why the species should not return to the Highlands.

A spokesperson said: “As keystone predators, wolves play an important role in balancing and restoring natural ecosystems.

“A few centuries ago, they were hunted to extinction in Scotland with damaging ecological consequences.

“But we can’t just rewind the calendar without resolving all of the challenges that would inevitably arise.

“Throughout Europe, the reintroduction and natural spread of wolves is highly controversial and generates strong emotions and conflict, particularly with livestock farming and hunting interests.

“Without full local community and national support any reintroduction in Scotland would be extremely challenging and unlikely to be successful.”

As for Scotland’s farmers, there is no doubt over where they stand.

“NFU Scotland remains crystal clear that any proposals to re-introduce predators such as lynx, wolves or bears are wholly unacceptable to Scottish farmers and crofters, and it calls on Scottish Government to make a clear statement rejecting such proposals permanently,” said a spokesman.

“The past few years have seen a long line of brazen and presumptuous claims from organisations about the imminent reintroduction of predators to the UK, causing considerable angst and anxiety to those who keep livestock in Scotland. 

“The only application in the UK to date, to reintroduce lynx to Kielder in the North of England, was rejected by the UK Government.

“Feverish press coverage of previous proposals to reintroduce predators saw a welcome commitment in public from Fergus Ewing MSP, when he was Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy, that he would never support such a reintroduction. 

“We fully expect the current Scottish Government to stand by that pledge.”

To hammer home concerns, the organisation points to a study trip to Norway five years ago, when a delegation heard how authorities had paid out compensation on 20,000 sheep lost to predators. 

“Of the sheep killed in Norway, wolverine accounted for around 34% of losses with the lynx, bear and wolf accounting for 21%, 15% and 9% of sheep killed through predation, respectively,” the spokesman added.

“Predation of farmed livestock in Norway has reduced over the past decade – not because of fewer predators, but the fact that hill farmers have simply stopped keeping sheep.

“The Norwegian NFU believe that around 1,000 hill farmers have given up in the past 10 years as they simply cannot carry on at the levels of predation. 

“The Norwegians told us that to reintroduce predators into our country would be an absolute catastrophe.  Their experience has simply strengthened our resolve.

“Those reaping any benefit from these species’ reintroductions are rarely the ones bearing any of the costs or negative impacts.”