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.

Tricky question.

December 8 2009

Thanks to all those who turned out last evening for the Anagach Trust AGM and my talk afterwards. At the end of the evening I was asked a tricky question: Which one law would I pass to ensure greater wildlife protection? To be honest I fudged it. Not because I had no opinion but because I'm not convinced that a longer term co-existence with wildlife - especially the more 'difficult' species - can be legislated for.
In my answer I opted for the word 'tolerance' - towards other species but also towards other members of our own species. Can anyone legislate for tolerance? No. But we can all work towards it. Oh... and a magic wand would come in handy.