Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf
Wolves are back in Germany after an absence of a hundred & fifty years.
I was overjoyed by this news but my joy was short lived when I realised that it is very possible for them to be hunted to local extinction once again.
The last German wolf was a female who became known as The Tiger of Sabrodt. She was shot in 1904 by a forester who received financial compensation for her carcass.
She gained a monstrous reputation over a four year period for killing livestock & daring to come close to humans. Terror was whipped up in the community resulting in people afraid to leave their homes in case she attacked & killed them. Some even dismissed the notion that she was a wolf, instead choosing to say that she was an escaped tiger from a zoo, living wild & attacking even the largest of animals.
Was she really that much of a danger?
There is no doubt in my mind that an animal which preys on large mammals certainly has the potential to be a great danger to people. A report by John D. C. Linnell, Ekaterina Kovtun & Ive Rouart stated that in an eighteen year period 26 people were killed by wolves. Of that number 14 of the deaths were attributed to rabies. This is a relatively low number when you consider that there are around 250,000 wolves, some living fairly close to people.
So, why do we fear them so much. When I think of turning a corner on my favourite walk to meet a wolf head on I am filled with dread & panic & I have never met one before. How did I come to form such an irrational opinion & strong aversion.
I blame those childhood books. The Brothers Grimm, Joseph Jacobs & Andrew Lang. I read them all as a child & became very wary of the world. The stories may have been fairy tales but what if the Pied Piper really did lure away 130 children who were never seen again & what if wolves really did eat dear old grandma & cute innocent house building pigs who were not that worldly wise & far too trusting.
Of course these ages old tales carried cautionary & moral messages which kept humans safe from the dangers around them but they were also meant to entertain. But, there are those among us who enjoy the adrenalin rush they feel when our fight or flight responses are aroused. There are people who enjoy intimidating others through fear, it makes them feel superior & in control of their victims. So, it is quite possible that these stories became exaggerated over time.
Surely not all wolves could be as bad as the ones I was reading about?
Wolves are generally afraid of humans. They avoid us & things they associate with us such as buildings & roads where possible.
Problems come with habituation.
Once wolves lose their fear of humans problems are going to arise. For example when people feed wolves they become accustomed to the food source. Their expectation of food whenever they see a human can lead to aggression when the expected food isn’t forthcoming resulting in bites & worse.
Wolf watching tours have been cited as employing baiting as a tactic to increase ticket sales. Wolves are, as I have already said, naturally wary of people. In a competitive sales market some tour operators will lay trails of meat so that tourists get a guaranteed glimpse of a wolf every time they take a tour with the company. This behaviour is so dangerous.
Dogs are more likely to meet with wolves than people resulting in attacks or even death. Wolves are highly territorial & will defend their space & dens fiercely.
Sometimes a lone female will break away from the pack & disperse. It is possible for her to accept a dog when she is in season resulting in hybrid wolves being born although it is incredibly rare. It’s really not a good idea to allow this to happen as the puppies will be stuck somewhere between a wild & domestic world, not quite fitting in to either. It might be tempting to think it a good idea to offer these puppies homes but the truth is they will not make good pets generally speaking. Wolves do not have the same inclination our dogs have to please us & it isn’t always easy for us to understand a wolfs behaviour.
Humans kill 500 – 1000 wolves in the USA each year alone
In the last nine years British Columbia have killed 2192 wolves
Last year Estonia’s kill quota was 144
In the last year Switzerland’s kill quota was 35 out of a population of 120, a quota that was challenged in court
Not all wolves are killed by hunters on foot. Canada was concerned about Wolves taking Caribou so they decided to set up a poisoning programme using 1080 being dropped by air inside pellets which the wolves would find attractive to eat.
1080 is a horrible poison which kills the wolves slowly, causing excruciating pain. The indiscriminate use of the poison does not only target wolves. Other animals will take the bait & secondary poisoning happens when a predator takes an animal who has died from 1080 poisoning.
Please watch this video from our friends at IFAW which explains more about the wolves & 1080
Are there risks to wolves in Germany because they hunt herbivores?
In 2021 wolves predated 2,772 sheep in Germany out of a population of approx 1.6 million
Wolves mostly prey on small mammals but will take sheep if their natural prey is largely unavailable to them or the pack is moving through an area with flocks of sheep.
The loss of livestock to a shepherd is an economic blow & one that they should not have to suffer
So, what can be done?
In Germany, shepherds have taken a two pronged approach.
Electric fences & livestock guardian dogs.
Electric fencing which omits a current strong enough to deter the wolves & packs of livestock guardian dogs are proving to be successful at keeping the sheep safe.
Contrary to popular belief the dogs do not go head to head in fierce battle with wolves. Their presence among the flock along with the electric fencing is often enough to stop the wolves from even trying to take the sheep. If wolves can find an alternative food source requiring less energy & carrying less risk of injury they will choose that option.
When wolves are particularly hungry due to lack of natural prey they will attempt to take sheep even when electric fencing & dogs are present but they will not simply jump the fence & throw themselves in to the fray.
They will test the fence for weakness. There may be sections of the fence with low or no current.
They will employ tactics to take the sheep as quickly as possible without injury. One or two wolves will distract the dogs for long enough to allow other pack members to get to work.
I met with Andreas Dinkelmeyer, a wolf expert working in the field for IFAW supporting shepherds in Germany. Please take a listen to our conversation here