Tolerance for wolves

February 16 2010

This e-mail just in from a colleague which I agreed to pass on.

"Following the 2008 Wild, Free and Coming Back? conference (Nov 08) there was a lot of interest in taking positive steps to promote predator reintroduction in the UK. One very practical way in which this can be done is to support the Wolves and Humans Foundation's 'White Dog Fund'. Their aim is to reduce human-predator conflicts in places such as Slovakia by providing practical assistance (eg guarding dogs) to farmers experiencing conflicts with predators, which in turn fosters tolerance.

www.wolvesandhumans.org/how_to_help_pages/white_dog_fund.html

By contributing to the fund you can also demonstrate that the UK public are willing to share the responsibility for living with predators such as the lynx and wolf if they are reintroduced, and so create a stronger case for their return. Please pass the link on to anyone who may be interested.

Scotland Outdoors

December 15 2009

The latest edition of Scotland Outdoors Magazine (www.scotoutdoors.com) features my 'ECOVIEW' on the potential restoration of lynx to Scotland. This is a topic I've covered several times before for different publications, but it does seem to raise eyebrows -and a few hackles - judging from e-mail requests for the full article. Good job it's not controversial then!!

If you'd like a pdf of the full article, please mail me. Better still, buy the magazine!

The Return

November 10 2009

Following the snappily titled 'Wild, Free and Coming Back?' conference last September in Forres, the Wild Media Foundation was commissioned to produce a short film on the potential for restoring large predators to Britain. The hi-res dvd version is available from Trees for Life (www.treesforlife.org.uk) but the web version can be seen here:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Tooth-Claw/87152519760

Getting close.

July 7 2009

Wildlife photographers are under pressure. There are so many photographers producing such stunning work that it's becoming increasingly difficult to be innovative. On a recent trip to photograph Finland's bears - a well covered site photographically - I tried to bring the bears in close to my hide in order to use a wide-angle lens to show the bear's habitat - something you don't often see.
After three nights this particularly confident bear came within 1.5metres of the hide but the look in his eyes betrays a reluctance to be that close!