Wolf hunting ban pits farmers against conservationists in Spain

Issued on: 23/09/2021 - 
Hunting wolves is now illegal in northern Spain PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU AFP
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Puebla de Sanabria (Spain) (AFP)

A 4x4 pulls up on a dirt road in northwest Spain and livestock farmer Ana Vega climbs out, walking over to a ditch where a few days ago a wolf killed a calf.

"They haven't left anything... devoured everything," she said, pointing at the ground. There is nothing left of the carcass, not even the smallest bone.

Wolves have long roamed the valley Ungilde, a paradise for the Iberian wolf near the Portuguese border, four hours' drive from Madrid.

Controlled hunting has helped to keep their numbers down in the area -- and protect livestock -- but on Wednesday a ban on killing the animals came into effect, inflaming farmers but delighting conservationists.

The hot-button ban brings northern Spain in line with the rest of the country, where hunting wolves has long been prohibited.

Many herders and farmers like Vega are dismayed over the new rule, fearing that a proliferation of wolves will put the animals at risk.

But conservationists have long pushed for the ban, saying the species should be protected.

"In this tragic wolf tale, there are three main actors: the herders, the conservationists and the hunters. And each one has his own solution," said forest ranger Carlos Zamora.

- 'Wolves' paradise' -

There are eight packs of wolves in the Sierra de la Culebra, which spans 70,000 hectares in the northwestern tip of the Castilla y Leon region.

Each pack is made up of 10 wolves, and there are several more lone individuals, Zamora explained. The number has remained steady for the past two decades, he added.

Livestock farmer Ana Vega remembers a time when locals took matters into their own hands if a wolf killed a sheep

 PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU AFP

The area is famed for the Iberian wolf -- or canis lupus signatus, a sub-species of grey wolf which lives mainly in northwestern Spain.

Its image is everywhere -- on billboards and t-shirts and plastered all over souvenir shops.

"It's always been a wolves' paradise here," said Zamora from behind his binoculars, scanning the horizon under the morning sun.

Until now, controlled hunting has been allowed north of the Duero river, which flows across northern Spain, to keep numbers down.

In the Cantabria region, they planned to cull 34 wolves this year -- 20 percent of the local population.

But Spain's Socialist government decided to unify the rules, banning wolf hunting throughout the peninsula, following similar moves in France and Italy.

"When you're talking about a unique species like the Iberian wolf, responsibility for its conservation lies with all regions, it can't be just in one area," junior environment minister Hugo Moran told AFP.

The Cantabria region had planned to cull 34 wolves this year, or 20 percent of the local population

 PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU AFP

"It's a shared responsibility."

But the news has angered the regions of Cantabria, Castilla y Leon, Asturias and Galicia, where the vast majority of wolves roam, with officials vowing to appeal.

While ecologists have hailed the ban as "an important step" towards species conservation, farmers are up in arms.

"It is unbelievable that communities that don't have wolves can impose their radical environmental agenda on us," raged Castilla y Leon's UCCL farmer's union.

- Unfair competition -

Vega remembers a time when locals took matters into their own hands if a wolf killed a sheep.

"They would go out and catch it or kill it," she said, her phone full of gruesome images of carcasses and half-eaten animals.

"I'm not saying we should kill them all, but that we all have to exist together," she added.

The government has banned wolf hunting throughout the peninsula 

PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU AFP

Extensive farming where animals graze on local resources involves a big investment to protect them against predators.

Vega has a pack of 15 mastiffs -- dogs as big as ponies which are not cheap to keep, what with vets bills and the huge piles of food they gobble up.

She has also paid for tractors to uproot vegetation where wolves like to hide on the land.

Farmer Jose Castedo has shelled out too, installing electric fencing to safeguard his 450 sheep.

"There are very few farms like this here," said the 62-year-old of his fortified enclosure.

He worries about "unfair competition" from properties where flocks are kept behind one-metre-high fences and monitored for just a few hours a day.

Forest ranger Carlos Zamora scans the horizon for wolves

 PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU AFP

The ecology ministry has pledged to invest and help, with Moran from the environment ministry promising "financial help" to those who live in areas that are home to "large carnivores".

© 2021 AFP

STOP MURDERING PREDATORS
Hunters and trappers blow past Wisconsin's wolf kill target

© Provided by The Canadian Press

MADISON, Wis. — Hunters and trappers blew past Wisconsin's wolf kill target in less than 72 hours, forcing a premature end to a hunt that initially wasn't supposed to happen for another nine months and raising the ire of animal rights activists.

The Department of Natural Resources closed the season Wednesday afternoon after hunters and trappers had killed 178 wolves, which was 59 more than the state's target of 119. Hunters and trappers exceeded their target in all six of the state's management zones.

The agency estimated that about 1,000 wolves roamed the state before the hunt began. The department's population goal is 350.

The season began Monday and had been scheduled to run through Sunday. DNR officials announced Tuesday that the hunt would end Wednesday afternoon because so many animals had been killed in the first two days.

The wolf season has been one of the most contentious outdoors issues that Wisconsin has grappled with in the last 20 years.

Animal rights advocates have argued that wolf populations are too small to support hunting and that the animals are too majestic to kill. Farmers and rural residents, though, say wolves are killing their livestock and pets.

FARMERS GRAZE THEIR ANIMALS ON PUBLIC LANDS FOR NO FEE, BUT BITCH WHEN THE WOLVES ON THOSE LANDS EXERT THEIR NATURAL RIGHTS

Wisconsin law hands wolf hunters and trappers significant advantages during the season. Unlike with deer hunting, wolf hunters and trappers can operate at night and use dogs to corner wolves. Snow cover also aids tracking.

Wayne Pacelle, president of animal rights group Animal Wellness Action, said in a statement Wednesday that killed Wisconsin wolves didn't stand a chance.

“Traps are set like landmines for unsuspecting animals and the hunters are deep into the woods and out of the range of communication, and they can easily claim they didn't get the ‘stop the hunt’ notice before they killed their wolf,” he said.

Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director for the Center for Biological Diversity, an Arizona-based non-profit that works to protect endangered species, issued a statement calling the Wisconsin hunt “a reckless slaughter.”

Hunters and trappers exceeded the state’s kill target during Wisconsin's 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons, which were held before the wolf was placed back on the federal endangered species list.

Wisconsin law requires the DNR to give 24-hour notice of wolf hunting zone closures, which means hunters and trappers can keep killing wolves for another day after a closure is announced. If they kill a wolf after the zone is closed, they would face a $330 fine.

The DNR announced on Tuesday that three zones would close at 10 a.m. Wednesday and the remaining three would close at 3 p.m.

The Trump administration removed federal protections for wolves in January, returning management to the states. Wisconsin law requires the DNR to hold an annual hunt between November and February. The department was preparing for a November hunt when Republican lawmakers demanded the season start before the end of February, saying they were worried the Biden administration might re-list wolves before November and deny Wisconsin hunters a season.

The DNR resisted, but hunter advocacy group Hunter Nation won a court order earlier this month that forced the immediate launch of a wolf hunting season.

The DNR still plans to hold a November wolf hunting season.

Keith Warnke, the department's fish, wildlife and parks administrator, told the agency's policy board during a meeting Wednesday that hunters had exceeded the limit.

None of the board members expressed any reaction to the news. The board's chairman, Fred Prehn, said the target was too low given the population goal of 350 wolves and that the November target should be set to get closer to that goal.

Warnke said he didn't know if that would be safe for the overall population, but that the department would use that 350-animal goal to inform its decisions. He said new population estimates are expected in April.

Lawmakers in neighbouring Minnesota have introduced dueling bills that would ban wolf hunting and establish a season.

___

Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter: https://twitter.com/trichmond1

Todd Richmond, The Associated Press

The Case for Equal Protections for Wolves Throughout Their Range

BY ERIK MOLVARFacebook

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Gray wolf. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.

Last week, the U.S. District Court of Northern California handed down a landmark ruling that struck down the Trump administration’s nationwide de-listing of wolves under the Endangered Species Act. Hailed as a major conservation victory, the ruling grants strong federal protections in the Great Lakes region and along the West Coast, as well as some Interior West states where wolf populations are just beginning to establish themselves. Unfortunately, the court ruling does nothing to curb the extinction agendas of the state governments in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana – the states where the threats to wolves are greatest.

If wolves deserve federal protections across the vast majority of the United States, based on the the best available science, then the need for federal oversight is even more compelling in these three states. The Biden administration now has the opportunity – indeed, the responsibility – to protect wolves under the Endangered Species Act throughout the western states, providing equal protection under the law.

All three states recently changed their laws and regulations to maximize the slaughter of wolves, seeking to turn back the clock and repeat the 19^th Century wolf extinction policies cooked up by the livestock industry and a handful of rabidly anti-wolf hunting organizations.

Wyoming is the original bad-actor state, and adopted a state management plan that marks wolves for extinction across 85% of the state. It also subjected the remainder (the lands surrounding Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks) to aggressive levels of trophy hunting. Under this plan, it is perfectly legal to kill a wolf at any time of year, by multiple means, without so much as a bag limit or even a hunting license. It was Wyoming that showcased the horrific practice of “coyote whacking,” running down both wolves and coyotes with snowmobiles repeatedly, until they are killed. When a Wyoming legislator introduced a bill to ban this practice, it was swiftly killed in committee, granting a level of legislative approval to a barbaric practice that should land the offender in prison.

Idaho is doing its best to catch up, with the legislature passing a bill taking control of wolf management – over the objections of its own Fish and Game Commission – and authorizing year-round trapping throughout much of the state and allowing trophy hunters to purchase unlimited quantities of wolf tags with a goal of eliminating 90% of the state’s wolf population. The bill authorizes hunters to pursue wolves on ATVs and snowmobiles, allows aerial gunning, and allows baiting and night-vision goggles to be used. Ignoring other pressing needs like education spending, the State of Idaho also authorized $1 million in taxpayer funds specifically to kill wolves.

In Montana, aggressive expansion of hunting and trapping seasons has resulted in a bloodbath at the hands of trophy hunters. Some 24 of the wolves who live in Yellowstone National Park – including the entire Phantom Lake Pack – have been killed over the past year after wandering across the Park boundary into unprotected Montana lands where trophy hunting is authorized. The Indigenous group Protect the Wolves petitioned the states of Montana and Wyoming to block hunting and trapping within a Sacred Resource Protection Zone extending for 31 miles around both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, but state governments showed depraved indifference for the fate of National Park wolves, beloved by millions of Americans, authorizing hunting to extend right up to Park boundaries. The killings not only disrupt social relationships among Yellowstone wolves, but also interfere with scientific studies and disrupt natural processes.

All three of these anti-wolf state governments are actively “managing” (a generous euphemism for this killing free-for-all) wolves down to their target of 15 packs in each state, a level that fails to maintain a minimum viable population of wolves in the region. It’s a recipe for extinction, which is exactly what the livestock producers and their allies want, and exactly what the Endangered Species Act is intended to prevent. Protecting wolves in eastern Washington and Oregon is also needed to prevent excessive wolf killings in reprisal for livestock losses.

Recently, conservationists petitioned the Biden administration to list wolves as endangered throughout the West. The agency issued a positive 90-day finding, acknowledging that substantial scientific information indicates that listing could be warranted. It’s now time for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to follow through on its legal obligations and extend equal federal protections for wolves throughout the western states, including those states where the wolves are presently targeted most aggressively for elimination.

Erik Molvar is a wildlife biologist and is the Laramie, Wyoming-based Executive Director of Western Watersheds Project, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting and restoring watersheds and wildlife on western public lands.

Wisconsin DNR releases 3,500 public comments on wolf plan

By TODD RICHMOND

yesterday

 This photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife shows a gray wolf, April 18, 2008. Wisconsin wildlife officials on Friday, April 7, 2023, released thousands of public comments on a new wolf management plan, that run the gamut from restoring a statewide population limit to banning hunting the animals. (Gary Kramer/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP, File)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin wildlife officials on Friday released thousands of public comments on a new wolf management plan, some calling for the restoration of a statewide population limit and others urging a total hunting ban.

Department of Natural Resources in November released a draft of its first new wolf management plan in almost 25 years. It would eliminate the existing 350-animal population goal and recommends instead that the DNR work with local advisory committees on whether to reduce local wolf populations, keep them stable, or allow them to grow.

The window for submitting comments on the draft plan ended Feb. 28. The DNR posted about 3,500 redacted comments on its website Friday afternoon.

The comments broadly reflected all sides of the long-running debate over how to best handle the growing number of wolves in Wisconsin. DNR estimates released in September put the statewide population at about 1,000 animals.

Northern Wisconsin farmers have long complained about wolves preying on livestock. Hunters have pointed to the 350-animal number as justification for setting generous quotas during the state’s fall wolf season. Animal advocates counter that the population still isn’t strong enough to support hunting.

Several government entities in rural Wisconsin, including the Douglas, Marathon and Jackson county boards, submitted boilerplate resolutions to the DNR calling for the agency to restore the 350-animal goal, arguing that nothing has changed to warrant its elimination.

Hunting groups, including the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association and Safari Club International, also called for the agency to restore the 350-wolf goal.

“Without setting a definitive guideline on which to base discretionary management decisions, any effort to stabilize or even reduce the wolf population will be questioned and likely challenged,” Safari Club International President Sven Lindquist said in a letter to the DNR. “Establishing a population objective would provide DNR with a specific goal to point to as it makes decisions like setting annual harvest quotas and methods of harvest.”

Republican legislators introduced a bill that would mandate the DNR establish a new population goal in the final version of the plan but doesn’t say at what level. The proposal hasn’t received a hearing yet.

Conservation groups, meanwhile, applauded the lack of a numeric goal in the draft plan.

“Removing an arbitrary wolf population goal is important to make sure the numbers of wolves are adaptable,” Elizabeth Ward, director of the Sierra Club’s Wisconsin chapter, said in a letter. “As written in the plan, the goal should be for the state to have a self-sustaining, self-regulating, and genetically diverse wolf population that maintains connectivity with wolf populations in neighboring states and fulfills their ecological roles.”

The Chippewa tribes, which regard the wolf as a sacred brother, submitted comments saying they cannot support hunting wolves and imploring the DNR to include them in discussions on plan revisions.

It’s unclear when DNR officials would submit a final draft to the agency’s policy board. Agency officials said in a statement only that they’re reviewing the comments and will use them to consider revisions. They did not offer a timeline.

DNR spokesperson Katie Grant has not responded to an email from The Associated Press.

Wisconsin law mandates a wolf season but last year a federal judge restored endangered species protections for gray wolves across most of the country, including Wisconsin. The move prohibits hunting the animals. If wolves were ever to lose those protections, the states would be responsible for managing the creatures and Wisconsin hunts would resume.

HUMAN'S ARE THE WORSE DANGER
EU chief warns wolf packs 'real danger' in Europe 

SPECIESISM

By AFP

September 4, 2023

A wolf  photographed in Kuhmo in northeastern Finland - 

Copyright Lehtikuva/AFP/File Jussi Nukari

Dave CLARK

Brussels launched a review Monday of laws protecting wolves from hunters and farmers, as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen argued that packs threaten livestock and perhaps even people.

Wolves were once hunted to near extinction in Europe, but in the 1950s countries began granting them protected status. Now populations are growing in several regions.

"The concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger for livestock and potentially also for humans," von der Leyen said.

The president of the European Commission has personal experience of the alleged threat posed by wolves.

In September last year, a wolf crept into a paddock on the family's rural property in northern Germany and killed her beloved elderly pony Dolly.

Conservationists, however, have hailed the return of healthier wolf populations to Europe's mountains and forests, seeing the large predator as part of the natural food chain.

Under the EU Habitat Directive, first adopted in 1992, the wolf enjoys protected status.

But local and national exceptions to the law are possible, and von der Leyen urged "authorities to take action where necessary", adding: "Indeed, current EU legislation already enables them to do so."

Her statement urged local communities, scientists and officials to submit data on wolf numbers and their impact to a European Commission email address by September 22.

Using this information, the commission will then decide how to modify wolf protection laws "to introduce, where necessary, further flexibility".

The European Commission's announcement received angry comments from animal lovers on social media, many pointing out there have been no fatal attacks on humans by wolves in Europe for decades.

– 'Brave and clear' –

But major European member state governments are thinking along the same lines as Brussels — as are some political parties keen to court rural voters angered by environmental protection laws.

German environment minister Steffi Lemke plans to put forward proposals to make it easier to shoot wolves that have attacked livestock.

"The shooting of wolves after their attacks must be made possible more swiftly and unbureaucratically," Lemke told Welt daily, adding that she will present her plans at the end of September.

"It is a tragedy for every livestock farmer and a great burden for those affected when dozens of sheep that have been ripped apart are lying on the pasture," said the Green Party politician.

French agriculture minister Marc Fesneau thanked von der Leyen for taking a "brave and clear" stance on the issue, urging European authorities to "advance with pragmatism".

While the rules had been introduced to protect an endangered species, he said, "now it is the farmers and their business that are in danger".

DC/FG

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned Monday of the "real danger" of wolf packs in the European Union, announcing a possible revision of the protection status for the animal.

"The concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger to livestock and, potentially, to humans," the German official said in a statement.

For the Commission, "the return of wolves to parts of the EU where they have been absent for a long time leads to increasing conflicts with local farming and hunting communities, especially when measures to prevent attacks on livestock are not fully implemented".

The Commission calls on "local communities, scientists and all interested parties to submit, by 22 September, updated data on wolf populations and their impacts".

The question of the number of wolves present in different European countries is at the heart of lively debates – and a real battle of figures – between breeders and environmental protection associations.

"On the basis of the data collected, the Commission will decide on a proposal to amend, where appropriate, the protection status of wolves in the EU and to update the legal framework, in order to introduce, where necessary, more flexibility, in the light of the evolution of this species," the EU executive added, adding that this would "complement the current possibilities offered by EU legislation".

Under the EU's 1992 Habitats Directive, most wolf populations in Europe enjoy strict protection, with derogation possibilities. This regime implements the requirements of the Berne International Convention.

"I call on local and national authorities to take appropriate action. Indeed, current EU legislation already allows them to do so," von der Leyen said.

Ms von der Leyen herself had a bad experience with the wolf: in September 2022, one of them broke into an enclosure on her von der Leyen family's property in northern Germany and killed her old pony, Dolly.

EU reviews wolf's protected status, Germany considers culls

Wolves are currently highly protected under both German and EU law. 

Populations have grown rapidly over the last decade, with farmers pointing to the threat the EU's 19,000 wolves pose to livestock.

Wolves were systematically eradicated in much of Western Europe and only returned to Germany two decades ago after migrating westward from Poland.

 Jonas Ekstromer/STF/picture alliance

The European Commission on Monday launched a study in order to review the protected conservation status of wolves in the EU.

Wolves are currently highly protected under both German and EU law.

There are 1,200 wolves in Germany, according to official figures from 2021-2022. Experts estimate there are up to 19,000 wolves in countries across the EU, with numbers having grown by 25% over the last decade.

Wolves had long been extinct in much of Western Europe after having been systematically eradicated, and only returned to Germany two decades ago after migrating westward from Poland.

While environmental activists and others have lauded the increase in wolf populations as an example of successful conservation and oppose new culls, farmers have complained of the threat the predators pose to livestock.



Wolves 'real danger for livestock, humans' — von der Leyen

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that wolf numbers have "become a real danger for livestock and potentially also for humans” in some parts of Europe.

She urged "local and national authorities to take action where necessary," adding that current laws already allow for this possibility.

"Where there is a clear danger, local authorities are allowed to permit hunting," she said. "I think this is an absolute right."

The commission has asked scientists, local communities and other interested parties to submit data on wolf populations and their impacts by September 22.

Von der Leyen's own pet pony was killed by a wolf last year in the northwestern German state of Lower Saxony, an incident which was widely reported on in German media.

Meanwhile, German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke of the Greens said she supports rules that make it easier to shoot wolves to protect livestock.

"Shooting wolves after they have killed has to happen faster and with less bureaucracy," she told the Die Welt daily on Monday.

"When dozens of sheep are killed and lie dead on the meadow, it is a tragedy for every livestock farmer and a very great burden for those affected," she said.

"[Farmers] need more support and security," the minister stressed.

Lemke aims to present new plans by the end of September. However, these could be difficult to implement due to the fact that wolf management corresponds to powers held by the state governments.

Farmers, conservationists disagree on wolf control measures

The head of the German Farmers' Association, Bernhard Krüsken, called Lemke's propsal a "smokescreen" in comments to the German Press Agency (dpa).

He said that that farmers want "real wolf management" and for the species' protected status to be removed, which would then allow culls.

However, German environmental groups have argued against hunting wolves.

"For the number of grazing animals killed, it is not the number of wolves that is decisive, but the number of unprotected grazing herds," Uwe Friedel, wolf expert at the BUND conservation group said.

Marie Neuwald, wolf and grazing specialist at the Nabu conservation group, asserted that even smaller numbers of wolves could pose a threat to livestock.

"Hunting does not lead to wolves keeping more distance to grazing animals," she said. Instead, she advocated for financial support for farmers to implement herd protection measures.

sdi/jcg (dpa, AP)

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LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for WOLF HUNT 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for WOLF 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for WOLVES 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for BAN WOLF HUNTING 

The age of extinction
Canada mourns Takaya – the lone sea wolf whose spirit captured the world Takaya on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. 

Photograph: Cheryl Alexander/Wild Awake Images

The life – and this week’s sudden death – of the legendary wolf shone a light on the often-strained bond between humans and wild animals

by Leyland Cecco
The age of extinction is supported byAbout this content

Fri 27 Mar 2020

When Doug Paton burst from his trailer on a warm spring afternoon, he expected to confront yet another stray dog agitating the livestock on his sister’s farm outside Victoria, a city on Canada’s west coast. Instead, standing barefoot in the grass, he found himself face to face with a wolf.

“It stopped dead in its tracks and it stared me down,” he says. Then, as quickly as it appeared, the wolf trotted away, pausing once to stare back at Paton before clearing a five-foot metal gate and vanishing.

“Just like a person, you might not remember a name, but you never forget a face,” he says. “I’ll never forget that face as long as I live. I just close my eyes and see it.”
Doug Paton got a Lone Wolf tattoo to mark his encounter with Takaya. Photograph: Leyland Cecco

After leaving a breathless Paton back in 2012, the young wolf traversed nearly 25 miles of urban sprawl, taking shelter in the backyards and parks of British Columbia’s capital, until he reached the south-east tip of Vancouver Island. From there, the wolf swam nearly two miles towards a scattering of tiny islands within sight of the city.

In the eight years that followed, the wolf – named Takaya (the Lekwungen word for wolf) by the Songhees, a local First Nation whose territory encompasses the islands – quickly became a legendary figure, drawing fans from around the world captivated by stories of the resilience – and tenderness – of the young predator.

But his life ended in tragedy on Tuesday, in a series of events that laid bare both the cold uncertainties of life in the wild and the limits of an often-strained bond between humans and wild animals.

Tayaka was a rare species of canine known as the coastal or sea wolf. These predators thrive in marine environments and have become adept at living off a diet of salmon, shellfish and seals instead of deer. Fifty years ago, there were few coastal wolves in the region, victims of overhunting and habitat degradation. Today an estimated 250 of them roam the 12,000 sq miles of Vancouver Island, a remarkable turnaround for the embattled predators.

Two years after Paton’s experience, Cheryl Alexander got her first glimpse of Takaya, in May 2014. Like many of the 370,000 residents of greater Victoria, the environmental consultant and photographer was curious about how the wolf could survive among the wind-battered trees of the tiny islands. 

Takaya swam two miles to a scattering of tiny islands. Photograph: Cheryl Alexander/Wild Awake ImagesShe saw Takaya emerge from the ocean briefly and slip into the trees. The piercing howls that followed were a chilling and powerful experience. “It had emotions associated with it that were very melodic,” she says. “Everyone was almost moved to tears.”

Much of the excitement surrounding Takaya came from the unlikeliness of his journey. Few wolves have ever traversed the heart of Victoria, and the islands Takaya took up residence on were tiny, 10 times smaller than the narrowest known range for a wolf pack in the wild.

Most notably, he arrived alone. Wolves almost always live in nuclear families; two parents and their pups. Occasionally, one will break away to form a new group. But the dangers of hunting – the sharp antlers and stomping hoofs of panicking animals – are often fatal for a lone predator. That Takaya travelled solo – and seemed content to remain alone – added to the myth and excitement.

In recent years, new housing developments have marched steadily outwards from Victoria, swapping land that was once forested and wild for cul-de-sacs and two-car garages.

But the chain of islands close to the city is a rare enclave of untamed nature. Pine and fir, punctuated by the rich amber hues of arbutus trees, create thick inland forests. Seals haul themselves on to the shores and small mammals – mink and otter – scurry among the rocks.

Takaya quickly got to work, feasting on the seals and otters and sharpening his ability to catch fast-moving fish. But with no permanent streams on the island, he also had to use his ingenuity to survive. Drizzly winters created temporary wetlands, but summers in the region are dry. In a move that astounded biologists, he began digging wells on the island.

“He really pushed the envelope of what’s possible ecologically, both in terms of how he made his living, and the small amount of space that he actually required to do so,” says Chris Darimont, a wolf expert at the University of Victoria and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Takaya was an “extreme data point” on the spectrum of anything researchers had previously encountered. 

Takaya was known to dig wells to find drinking water in the dry summers. Photograph: Cheryl Alexander/Wild Awake Images


People began paddling out to the islands, hoping to catch a glimpse of this miraculous wolf thriving in the ever-vanishing wild around them.

But as his popularity grew, fed by a steady flow of stories in the local media, government authorities feared a dangerous encounter with humans had become inevitable and in the summer of 2012 and winter of 2013, conservation officers set up a series of traps. But Takaya seemed untrappable, ignoring the bait laid out for him.

Plans to capture Takaya put the province at odds with the Songhees First Nations, who vigorously protested the idea of removing the wolf. Long a symbol of the Lekwungen people, there was an excitement among the community that a wolf had finally returned.

Resistance to capturing the wolf also unearthed longstanding grievances over control of the islands. Known as Ti’ches in Lekwungen, the archipelago has long been a source of natural medicines found in the woods and fish in the surrounding waters. When the colonial government enacted a ban on traditional indigenous ceremonies in the 1800s, the Songhees would travel to Ti’ches to practise in secret.

Archival photographs show large wooden structures along the shore, all of which have long disappeared; dismantled, destroyed or stolen over the years. Today the Songhees own all of Chatham Islands and share a portion of Discovery Island with the province of British Columbia. But even the name of the area – Oak Bay Islands Ecological Reserve – remains a vestige of colonialism.

“There’s a huge piece of culture that’s not known or appreciated,” says Mark Salter, the former tourism manager for the Songhees Nation, who has worked to educate the public about the history of the islands. On numerous occasions, he has had to put out fires left by campers and pick up garbage left on the shore. “People invite themselves out here, not knowing this is reserve land. But they’re not welcome.”

In 2016, a group ignored a ban on bringing pets to the islands, travelling with their two dogs. As they walked through the forest, they soon realised they had acquired a third canine in their group. The group panicked and scrambled on to the roof of a nearby lighthouse building, where they called coastguard rescue. Armed conservation officers also arrived, prepared to deliver a fatal shot if needed. Takaya was spared, but the encounter chilled Salter, who worried the wolf’s fame, which only increased over time, could be his undoing.

Howls still echoing in her mind, Alexander began boating around the islands, eager to repeat her first encounter. This time she came prepared with telephoto lenses. Her early sightings of Takaya were rare and infrequent. He was ghostlike, quickly vanishing from view.

“There was something very captivating about him,” she says. “For whatever reason, I felt a really intense connection. I just wanted to learn about his life.” She returned to the islands week after week. With permission from the Songhees Nation, Alexander was able to set foot in the forests where Takaya often hid. Walking gingerly among the pine and fir, she could sense his presence, even as he remained camouflaged among the trees and tall grass.
Photographer Cheryl Alexander, centre, with biologists Thomas Riemchen and Sheila Douglas. Photograph: Leyland Cecco

He began appearing – and vanishing – more frequently. In their hundreds of encounters – including one in which he sat just three feet from her – Alexander felt drawn to his tenderness. “Wolves want what we want,” she says. “They play. They touch. They care deeply about other members of their family.” It was these human-like characteristics that moved people the most. His lonely howls could often be heard from the city during calm weather. Wolves, like humans, crave companionship in some form. As Takaya aged, outliving most wild wolves, he did so alone.

No wolf had ever been recorded living alone for so long, says Darimont. And lone wolves typically avoid howling, so as not to draw the attention of nearby packs. Nearly everything about Takaya, it seemed, was exceptional.

In 2019, a documentary featuring Takaya that Alexander helped produce aired in Canada and on the BBC, further cementing his fame.

Then, in February 2019, a lone female was spotted on the rocky shores of the mainland, across from where Takaya made his swim. Experts doubt she swam the channel – but her presence ignited hope that Takaya might soon be reunited with one of his own.

“There was something about his aloneness … his alienation from his own kind … that spoke to people’s own feelings of alienation and aloneness in the world,” says Alexander. “Plus, we’re all hopeless romantics.”

 

Takaya’s howls could be heard in the city on calm days. Photograph: Cheryl Alexander/Wild Awake ImagesOthers found strength in the wolf’s solitude. Paton, whose spring encounter in 2012 was likely the first recorded sighting of Takaya, was locked in a bitter custody battle and divorce when the two crossed paths.

“I didn’t want to fight any more. And then I saw this lone wolf and thought, ‘If he’s healthy – if he’s doing fine by himself, then so can I,’” he says. “From that day forward, I just changed my attitude towards things. I stopped feeling sorry for myself. I felt more invigorated than ever to get things right in my life. And I never looked back.”

Soon after, Paton had the words “Lone Wolf” tattooed on his forearms in permanent tribute.

With all the success Takaya had enjoyed on the islands, no one is sure why, on 25 January this year, he dipped his 10-year-old body into the swirling emerald waters one last time and swam towards the city.

Emerging from the ocean on the opposite shore, he was greeted by a scene of parks and forest, interrupted by condominiums and family homes. Darimont believes the most likely reason, despite the popular conception of Takaya as a lonely figure, was that he was overcome by the annual hormonal urge to mate, which occurs in January.

“I suspect he gave up tranquil retirement on the islands to go find a mate,” he says. Conservation officers have their own theories. They believe a string of intense storms in the winter months, which had blown fierce winds across the islands, might have disrupted Takaya’s access to food. The greenery of city parks across the water and the potential of a new source of food might have been enough to lure a hungry wolf.
Takaya was spotted in Beacon Hill park, a sprawling green space in downtown Victoria. Photograph: Leyland Cecco

Alexander, however, rejects mating and food loss as likely explanations for Takaya’s journey. In the days leading up to his departure, trail camera images showed a healthy, robust wolf. And if the previous nine years of hormones hadn’t been enough to move him from the island in search of a mate, she wondered why – at nearly 11 years old – he suddenly felt the urge to leave. Instead, she feared he might have misjudged the swift ocean currents and been swept towards the mainland. Or that the sound of poachers on the island – hunting ducks in the winter – might have prompted the skittish wolf to seek refuge in the water.

“I doubt that he was intending to leave permanently. I just can’t see it. It was his territory. It was really the only thing he knew. He’d been there all of his life,” she says.

For nearly 48 hours, Takaya, briskly trotting through parks and along sidewalks, led police on a wild chase through the city.

The city remained transfixed as police posted the wolf’s progress on social media. Alexander remembers a night riddled with anxiety as she received constant updates on the chase. Eventually police tracked Takaya to a house, finding him wedged between a garage and a fence. Alexander pleaded with officials to let her see Takaya, but was held back. “I was nearby and I believe that he could smell me,” she says.

Takaya was sedated and carried upside down, his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth, and placed into a metal barrel.

After snapping photos of his limp body being carried away, Alexander returned home to celebrate her husband’s birthday and then went to bed. “The next morning, I just woke up, and cried,” she says.

Two days later Takaya was released back into the wild, emerging from the stupor of drugs on a gravel logging road. Conservation officers decided to relocate him more than 100 miles from the islands. He was moved inland, where the forest is thick and impenetrable, along the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island.

Away from the familiarity and comforts of his small islands, Takaya faced a daunting list of new threats. Packs of wolves in the area might kill him if their paths crossed. Leg-hold traps, laden with bait, might prove too tempting to a starving wolf. Even the new prey – elk and deer – were unfamiliar. “There was tons of stuff that he hadn’t had to deal with in his life,” says Alexander. “I was very worried.”

Takaya on Vancouver Island. Photograph: Cheryl Alexander/Wild Awake Images“Nature is nature and you can’t predict what’s going to happen,” said conservation officer Mark Kissinger, who tranquillised Takaya and set him free, at the time. “But hopefully things go well for him.”

Each time she visited the islands in the weeks that followed, Alexander was struck by an overwhelming sense of emptiness. “There’s an absence now of energy. There’s an absence of possibility,” she said, steering her boat through a narrow channel one sunny February afternoon.

“He gave us a portal into the wild and into nature – and into something that we often don’t get to see. And if we do, it’s only just a glimpse.”

Then, at the end of February, Alexander received an email from a woman who had spotted a wolf while out walking near the fishing community of Port Renfrew. It had peered at her from the forest and showed no signs of aggression when her dog approached it.

Alexander travelled to meet the woman but returned home without any sightings. Then, that night, she was sent a photograph from a man who had a series of trail cameras in the area. Alexander took one look at the picture, and recognised Takaya. A bright yellow tag was pinned in his ear – a souvenir from his experience with conservation officers.

Alexander travelled back to Port Renfrew, this time bringing her own trail camera. Checking it a few days later, the video showed Takaya walking past. The sighting, so close to a populated area, immediately concerned Alexander. 

Takaya’s adventures ended when he was shot by hunters. Photograph: Cheryl Alexander/Wild Awake Images

“He doesn’t have that fear instilled in him that humans are bad. He’s trusting. It worries me he may find himself in a situation where humans are not all good and don’t have his interests at heart. It really scares me; it worries me,” said Alexander following the sightings.

Her instincts proved right.

On 24 March, Takaya was shot and killed, nearly 30 miles from where he was released. In the weeks before his death he had been spotted with increasing frequency, raising fears an encounter might prove fatal.

On his final day he came too close to a hunter’s dogs. In the end, it was his curiosity, built up from years of protection offered by the islands, that was his undoing.

British Columbia’s Conservation Officer Service told Canada’s CTV news: “We understand many British Columbians and people around the world shared care and concern for the wellbeing of this wolf and this update will affect many people.”

None more so than Alexander, who said simply: “It’s heartbreaking.”

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Tigers As Commodities

The destruction of the wild for expansion of Palm Oil production in Asia is the greatest threat to the last refuge of the wild Tiger.The Ape Will Lie Down With The Tiger That and the Chinese taste for Tigers.

China criticised for 'tiger wine'

BBC[Wednesday, April 18, 2007 15:49]

A recent poll declared the tiger the world's most popular animal China has come under fire for allowing tigers to be bred for the production of so-called "tiger bone wine". The drink is reportedly made by steeping tiger carcasses in rice wine. Those who drink the wine believe it makes them strong. Chinese delegates at the International Tiger Symposium in Nepal are arguing for the lifting of a current ban on the trade in tiger bones and skins. But other Asian nations with threatened tiger populations want the ban to stay. Emotive issue There has been a forceful exchange of views on the issue at the symposium, according to the BBC correspondent in Kathmandu, Charles Haviland. Experts say there are several reasons why tiger numbers have drastically declined, but just one has grabbed the limelight, our correspondent says. The argument centres on the existence of so-called "tiger farms" in China, which have bred thousands of captive tigers with the ostensible purpose of entertaining visitors. But the conservation group WWF, which is chairing the symposium, says these farms are fronts for the production of tiger bone wine. WWF also says the captive tigers cannot survive in the wild, and believes the production of wine and underhand trade in skin and bones also threaten to make wild tiger poaching more lucrative. A senior WWF official said the discussions were heated, with Chinese academics saying their country should lift its ban on the trade in tiger parts. But experts from states like Nepal and Bangladesh, which have threatened tiger populations, are urging that the ban should remain. On Wednesday, a more formal forum of government delegations will begin discussing the fate of the majestic beast, which a recent television poll declared to be the world's most popular animal.

Businesses call for lift on tiger parts ban

Kathmandu - The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has expressed concerns over a campaign by Chinese businessmen to lift a ban on the trade of tiger parts, Kathmandu media reported on Wednesday.

"Since China is the biggest market of tiger parts, the lifting of the ban will affect conservation efforts," the English-language Himalayan Times quoted Sue Lieberman, the director of the WWF's global species programme, as saying. "This is going to be the real and biggest threat for the tigers and the tiger conservationists."

Businessmen are reportedly putting pressure on the Chinese government to lift the ban and are also stepping up their campaign on the international community to allow China to commercially breed tigers for their body parts.

International trade in all tigers and tiger products is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

However, wildlife organisations said illegal trade in big cat skins and body parts is worth about $8-billion a year. The tiger body parts are in high demands in China and other East Asian countries for their perceived medicinal value.

The concern expressed by the WWF coincided with the start of an international tiger symposium in Kathmandu that was being attended by tiger experts and conservationist from 12 nations, including China.

The symposium is to discuss tiger conservation in 10 Asian countries and draw up strategies to protect tigers, which are considered an endangered species.

The WWF estimated 5 000 to 7 000 tigers live in the wild, of which about 4 000 are royal Bengal tigers found in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

The WWF said that over the past 100 years, tiger numbers have declined by 95 percent and three sub-species have become extinct - with a fourth not seen in the wild for more than 25 years.

The latest government figures from Nepal said about 370 tigers live there in the wild, distributed in Chitwan National Park in central Nepal and Bardiya National Park in western Nepal. - Sapa-DPA

Beasts of burden

As with humans, those animals that cannot profitably be integrated into the productive process are simply discarded. Domestication has focused on a narrow number of species; others not entirely domesticated have been preserved for recreational slaughter - such as deer. But many other species have been exterminated altogether, threatening the biodiversity of the planet. In ‘colonial India and Africa, the flower of British manhood indulged in veritable orgies of big game slaughter’. In north America, the wolf ‘became the symbol of untamed nature’ and was exterminated in most areas, as earlier in Europe, while between 1850 and 1880, 75 million buffalo were killed by hunters (Thomas). In each case, mass slaughter was seen as part of the divinely sanctioned transformation of wilderness into civilisation.

The same mania of extermination fuelled the hunting of humans defined as animals, such as the Aboriginal peoples of Australia, or the indigenous population of the Philippines, the subject of ‘goo-goo hunts’ after the US conquest of 1898.

Many other animal species have disappeared because of the destruction and fragmentation of their habitat. The animal industry is often directly involved in the wrecking of fragile local ecosystems, particularly when forests are cleared to make way for grazing land.

Today we are used to seeing the last survivors of endangered species conserved in zoos. The origin of these zoos formed part of the same colonial mentality that exterminated so many creatures: ‘the spectacle of the zoo animal must be understood historically as a spectacle of colonial or imperial power’ (Baker) with the captive animals serving as ‘simultaneous emblems of human mastery over the natural world and of English dominion over remote territories’ (Ritvo).

Anthropocentric humanism has been detrimental to humans as well as animals: ‘The brutal confinement of animals ultimately serves only to separate men and women from their own potentialities’ (Surrealist Group, cited in Law). What Camatte calls ‘the biological dimension of the revolution’ will involve the rediscovery of those aspects of humanity, some labelled as ‘bestial’, that have been underdeveloped by capital such as rhythm, imagination and wildness.

One consequence of this would be that humans would no longer see themselves as always above and distinct from other animals: ‘Communism... is not domination of nature but reconciliation, and thus regeneration of nature: human beings no longer treat nature simply as an object for their development, as a useful thing, but as a subject... not separate from them if only because nature is in them’ (Camatte).

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Tiger Tiger Burning Bright

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When wolves are at the door – what communities need to get on with new neighbors

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

 

IMAGE: A WOLF SPOTTED IN SIERRA DE LA CULEBRA view more 

CREDIT: CHISCO LEMA

Large carnivore populations are expanding across Europe and experts are calling for increased support for communities to encourage harmonious relationships with their new neighbours.

New research led by the University of Leeds studied three types of rural communities in Spain: one with a permanent presence of wolves; one where they have returned; and one where their return is expected within the next decade. It explored the conditions under which humans and wolves can coexist - living peacefully and sustainably alongside one another.

The research found that the ecological, economic, and social conditions for coexistence in these communities varied significantly. For instance, while guardian dogs (a large breed of dogs specially trained to fend off wolf attacks) were remarkably efficient in one location, topography, tourism and other factors made them less feasible in another.

The findings illustrate the importance of working with individual communities to find solutions adapted to their local needs and conditions, rather than generalised technical and legal fixes.

Spain is home to one of Europe’s largest wolf populations, estimated between 2,000 to 2,500. The research is published just two weeks before the Spanish government is set to impose a national ban on wolf hunting, which could aggravate current tension over how wolves should be managed, and by whom. 

Lead author Hanna Pettersson is a PhD researcher in Leeds’ Sustainability Research Institute and spent most of 2020 living in three villages in Spain to try and understand the key ingredients for coexistence with wolves in the different communities.

Ms Pettersson, who is from Sweden, said: “The main problem with wolves in areas where wolves and people shared space was often less about the wolves themselves, but about economic and social pressures that were threatening the livelihoods, cultures and autonomy of local communities. For different reasons, the wolves often came to represent these pressures. Up until now, we knew a lot about the factors that lead to dysfunctional relationships, but much less about what fosters functional coexistence.

“Today, thanks to strict conservation laws, urbanisation and improved habitat conditions, we are seeing a return and expansion of large carnivores, such as wolves, to many types of landscapes across Europe. This is a hopeful sign for the global nature restoration movement, which is a crucial part of dealing with the ongoing biodiversity and climate crises.

“However, to ensure this movement is just and sustainable, it is important we work proactively in the communities that will share space with these large predators. In some cases, they can bring economic benefits through ecotourism, and they can provide natural regulation of ecosystems, for instance, by keeping herbivore numbers in check.

“Wolves are beautiful creatures admired by many, but they also cause problems for traditional farming communities, many of whom are already vulnerable due to unfavourable market conditions and social marginalisation. The survival of these communities is crucial to maintain their rich cultural heritage and sustainable food production practices, and therefore we must ensure the right conditions are created to enable them to persist in a wilder and more biodiverse countryside of the future.

“Wolves are returning to places where they have been extinct for decades, sometimes centuries. The key challenge we face is preparing and supporting communities so that they can adapt and flourish, thanks to, or sometimes despite, their return.”

The research was published in Frontiers in Conservation Science by academics from the University of Leeds and Oviedo University, Spain.

CAPTION

Livestock guardian dog at work in Sanabria

CREDIT

Hanna Pettersson

CAPTION

Livestock guardian dogs at work in Asturias

CREDIT

Hanna Pettersson

Traditional methods for living with wolves

Traditional farming practices are still prevalent in Spain, where shepherds graze their livestock across wide geographic areas. As their animals roam freely, they face the risk of predation from wolves.

Some communities, such as one studied in Sierra de La Culebra in north west Spain, have lived alongside wolves for generations and they have adopted various successful coping methods to coexist.

They protect their animals by enclosing them overnight, accompanying them on foot during the day and keeping guardian dogs with their flocks at all times.

But these methods are highly work intensive and costly, particularly for small-scale farmers whose economic margins often are very narrow. In Spain, the few subsidies available for preventative methods have so far been focussed on communities where wolves have returned and caused rampant social conflict. People in harmonious areas have been left, in the best of cases, with bureaucratically cumbersome and inefficient compensation payments, if they can prove their animal was killed by a wolf, which is often impossible.

Ms Petterson said: “If we don’t recognise, celebrate, and support these communities, it will be almost impossible for them to pass on their way of life to future generations and we will lose the knowledge and skills of those who have successfully lived alongside wolves for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Without support, coexistence farmers will always be worse off than those who live in areas without wolves, and that sends the wrong signal. 

“We need coexistence communities to thrive, to provide a positive example and illustrate to those who are anticipating the return of wolves that living with them is possible.”

The research identifies examples of successful new approaches to supporting communities, which have helped to improve coexistence conditions. In Asturias, where wolves have returned and caused significant social conflicts and damage to the livestock sector, a local NGO have set up a certification scheme that ensures high and reliable prices for “pro-biodiversity” lamb. It provides the shepherds with flexibility and funds to ensure compliance to the conditions as they see fit, and public acknowledgement of their environmental services in the shops and restaurants where their meat is sold.

Another approach has been led by the Spanish charity Fundación Entretantos, a local partner of the study. They created and ran roundtable discussions for communities experiencing conflict due to the arrival of wolves.

Julio Majadas Andray, a member of the foundation, emphasised the importance of solutions beyond technical fixes to protect livestock: “We should not commit the error of thinking that the problems will be solved without there being a clear intention to work with the local agents and the people who are involved in the conflict.

“Spanish people’s coexistence with the wolf is currently passing through a very sensitive and complex phase that has dragged on for years.

“We must ensure that solutions are built collectively and that decision-making is supported by a large part of society - especially by the people, entities and groups affected.”

CAPTION

PhD researcher Hanna Pettersson talking about wolves in a local school

CREDIT

C.E.I.P. San Martín, Garganta la Olla

Conditions for human-carnivore coexistence

The researchers argue that four key conditions are needed for successful coexistence of people and large carnivores:

• Effective institutions – both formal and informal, to provide support and incentives, transparent and participatory decision-making, and which can tailor the demands of global conservation priorities to local conditions and mediate disputes as they arise
• Stable carnivore persistence – local conditions that allow the long-term survival of a species, including habitat to live in, abundant prey and genetic diversity within the population
• Social legitimacy – trust in local decision makers and public acceptance of both the procedure and the outcomes of decision-making
• Low levels of risk or vulnerability – minimal interaction between humans and the carnivores, maintained livelihood resilience and the ability of both people and carnivores to adapt their behaviour to life in the vicinity of one another

The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.

CAPTION

Traditional artisanal cheese factory, Asturias

CREDIT

Hanna Pettersson

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Conservation Science

DOI

10.3389/fcosc.2021.710218 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Case study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Welcoming wolves? Governing the return of large carnivores in traditional pastoral landscapes

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

10-Sep-2021