I am facinated by wolves. There was a great programme on over christmas about snow wolves, did anyone see it ? It was done by a wildlife photographer who camped out with some wolves, and got really close to them . Also I think there is a wolf enclosure in Surrey, I would love to go and see them there. What interests me, is our domestic dogs are descended from them, fascinating. Maggie x
Re: Wolves We went walking with wolves in Canada! Here http://www.northernlightswildlife.com/ It was simply amazing!
Re: Wolves Oh wow Boogie, amazing, a wonder of Canada. The programme was filmed on Ellesmere Island. xx
Re: Wolves I've watched half of the first episode Maggie,can't wait to see the puppies...he knows they are down there! ;D Walking with them must be amazing Mags ,one for the list for sure x
Re: Wolves As part of my degree I had to research the feasibility of Wolves being returned to the wild in this country (UK) The original suggested area of reintroduction was the island of Rhum off the west coast of Scotland. At that time (I think it's altered slightly now) nobody lived on Rhum only Rangers it was basically a big nature reserve. We spent time on Rhum studying the Red Deer population (they've been on autumn watch a few times ) and the feasibility of Wolves. The wolf being the natural predator of the deer and there being no farm livestock on Rhum meant it technically would've been an ideal place to reintroduce wolves. Obviously there we're negatives but in theory it could have worked. Unfortunately nothing came of it. It was very interesting though and a lovely place to go. It was by invitation only then, wild, remote and beautiful despite the rain.
Re: Wolves Wow, that would be cool to reintroduce wolves into the UK!! I love this short video, which explains some of the unforeseen effects of the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone: http://youtu.be/ysa5OBhXz-Q They are beautiful creatures. I have friends who have heard them howling around our cross country ski trails, unfortunately I haven't had the pleasure yet.
Re: Wolves I sort of like the UK dangerous animal free...if they were still here, that would be different. But now they are gone....I don't want bears back either.
Re: Wolves I like wolves in the wild. Not in my backyard. If they had to be introduced back in Scotland that would take away the right to roam. Strong fences would need put up to keep people out. I'm with Julie on this. I don't just sort of like, I do like the UK being dangerous animal free.
Re: Wolves I love a wolf! Not sure how I'd feel about having them in my back yard, though! There was a reintroduction of bears to the Pyrenees several years ago. The native Pyrenean bear was nearly extinct in the 90s and they imported some similar bears from Slovenia to breed with the natives. I'm not entirely sure how they thought this would save the Pyrenean bear, since any offspring would obviously be mixed blood, but hey ho. Obviously there was a lot of resistance, especially from the farming community, but they went through with it, didn't disclose where the bears were being released and had trackers on them so they knew if they got too close to populated areas. I remember we had one close to us a few summers ago. A car drove around the area warning everyone not to go walking. In the summer. In a mountainous place where walking is the number one activity. The best bit? They only announced it in Catalan. Brilliant. This is a tourist area, in the summers filled with Dutch, Belgian and British people, as well as the Spanish and French that don't all speak Catalan. Made me chuckle. Until we came across paw prints and the remains of a deer that were consistent with a bear feeding. Then, we got a bit twitchy. I still love wolves, though. Such beautiful, regal creatures.
Re: Wolves Yes, I would think that the UK is really too small and too populated for wolves to do well. Perhaps on an uninhibited island it might work, but space still might be an issue.
Re: Wolves The first breeding pair of sea eagles were reintroduced on Rhum not long before I went. At the time it was a very rare sight to see !!! I think it could be said to have been a very successful reintroduction from the sea eagles point of view. :-\
