The wolf was the last apex predator to roam Scotland and the rest of Britain. Though the date of its final disappearance is debated, it outstayed the bear and the lynx, and left its mark on our culture.

The Herald is committed to covering the big issues around our relationship to land and nature, and wolf reintroduction remains a divisive issue; the wolf an icon of biodiversity loss, even though its extirpation  from these isles began over 1000 years ago.

Of all the mooted species reintroductions to Scotland, the wolf rouses the most passion and anger. There are reasons feelings run so high. The wolf feels familiar; like an old, but dangerous friend; recognisable in our place names, our heraldry, our historic tales. . Once relatively common in Scotland, England and Wales, the story of how it was hunted and persecuted, has been told by Derek Gow in his book, Hunt for The Shadow Wolf.

READ HERE:

Other species have been introduced, and still others proposed. Scotland: The Big Picture, for instance, currently has a campaign for the reintroduction of the lynx. But the wolf has a different meaning and evokes much stronger feelings, both positive and negative than many other animals.

The political position in both Scotland and England has been that there will be no return. Five years go, Fergus Ewing swore the large predators would be reintroduced over his dead body. Farmers, who stand to lose most from the arrival of the wolf, argue strongly against their reintroduction.

They point to tensions in other parts of Europe where the wolf is expanding, and farmers and hunters are advocating for greater controls and stronger culls, due to rising livestock losses and growing wolf populations.

The range and numbers of these wolves are mapped here: 

Views are divided over the wolf, both in Scotland and across Europe. Some still see it as a dangerous predator to be kept from these shores; others as a missing link in our ecosystems.  Often, both here and in the rest of Europe, pro and against wolf views fall along lines of left and right, or urban and rural - but not always.

We are, in the UK, close to alone in being wolfless. Almost all countries in Europe have seen its return, even if, in cases like Belgium, in small numbers. The species is present in all EU Member States except Ireland, Cyprus and Malta, as well as across Scandinavia. The number of wolves across the EU in 2023 is estimated to be 20,300. This map shows where they are and how they are protected or controlled.

There is a reason we have no wolves, in spite of reintroduction proposals like those of Alladale Wilderness Reserve owner, Paul Lister. We are an island, and, as Derek Gow points out, the wolf stands no chance of arriving here on its own. If we want wolves, we are going to have to go and get them. Which begs the question, do we want to?