There are perhaps only 10,000 of this species in China, though there are around 700,000 living across the border in South Korea (slightly different subspecies).
They are also doing well in the UK with around 2000 living in the country, having been introduced by the Duke of Bedford into his animal collection, and then quickly escaped (around 100 years ago)
This makes the UK an important part of this species survival. It is particularly easy to see in the Norfolk broads, but is also found in other counties in this area.
It is true, Wolves are hunters. More than that, they are incredibly successful hunters. They work as a team, have incredible endurance and a very high level of intelligence. This is perhaps why in the last few centuries their numbers have been greatly depleted.
In places like western Europe and the USA, they were close to extinction as a whole and had become locally extinct in much of their range. So is this fear mongering reasonable? Of course not.
Lauren Boebert spouts rubbish about wild wolves and how dangerous they are
Here she is talking about wolves in Colorado. She quoted figures of 500 attacks from 2002- the present, and stated that 30 people died in this time – scary numbers indeed. However, she was instantly fact-checked – those were the number of attacks around the world not just in the USA, only 1 death occurred there.
Of course, every death is sad, but to put it in perspective, each year 175-200 people die as a result of their car colliding with a deer. So over the same period, there were 3500-4000 car deaths as a result of deer – and wolf presence greatly reduces this, both by reducing the deer numbers, and creating a climate of fear, which makes deer stay away from open spaces, and so cross roads far less often.
Lying in the South West of Bulgaria, the Pirin mountains are stunning
With populations of bears wolves and Jackals, it is a wonderful place to go looking for wild adventures. Boar deer and Chamois can be seen at different times of the day (though in places where predators lurk, expect to see prey less often in Europe), and 159 recorded bird species here, including eagles, hawks, owls, grouse, and woodpeckers (this is around 1/3 of all the birds in Bulgaria
The highlands of Scotland is an odd place. It has one of the lowest densities of humans, but at the same time the UK has eradicated the majority of predators, and despite being required by European law, has ruled out reintroducing any predators that once lived here.
I would love to see a small number of wolf packs roaming the highlands, to keep the prey on the move.
There is still a wide range of wildlife to spot in the highlands, and it is a beautiful place to visit. The problem is that at the current time, it is mostly not in a natural state. Furthermore, it is unfortunately very hard to regrow the Caledonian forests, as there are so many red deer.
A wide variety of other animals and birds can be spotted in the area. For instance, black grouse, golden eagles, osprey and ptarmigan. Also, you can spot capercaillie, pine martens, squirrels (red ones, of course!) and otters, to name but a few. There have been a small number of reindeer reintroduced (native but locally extinct).
The eastern highlands are largely included in a range of mountains called the Cairngorms which are also a fascinating area to explore
Pantanal Biosphere reserve covers 725 square miles of land at the entrance of the Pantanal, and should we wish to continue to protect the Pantanal we also need to protect its head waters.
However, this area also has an essential conservation status of its own, protecting a wide range of wildlife within its borders. mammals found here include troupes of monkeys, giant anteaters, tapirs, Capybaras, Armadillos, wild dogs, maned wolves, foxes, herds of deer, cougar, and ocelots. There are also over 350 bird species which include Aplomado falcons, burrowing owls, Yellow-faced parrots and maccaws.
Termite mounds litter the landscape and stand as much as 2m high. These are used by a variety of other wildlife. In particular, the larve of the Cumpinzeiro which is a luminescent beetle. If you are lucky, at night, you might get to witness the strange site of vast numbers of these beetles, emerging after rains. They light up the mounds transforming them into strange looking christmas trees.
This is a large forested mountain range in southwest Germany boarded by the Rhine valley to the west and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. Both the source of the Danube and Nekar river is in this mountain range. With a length of around 100 miles at an area of over 2,300 square miles it is a significant patch of wilderness.
With wolves just returning to the country, their migration into the black forest is only just beginning. Indeed, while in recent years it was known that there were a couple of lone males in the reserve, a lone female has recently been seen – suggesting that it is highly likely young wolf cubs will arrive in the next few years. Other than the wolves there are boar, lynx, otters, foxes, red and roe deer and a variety of other animals.
This reserve covers a complex to trevane covered in ravines deep canyons and has a mild climate with abundant rainfall. As a result much of the area is covered by rainforest and there is a great deal of wildlife. It is a total of 1,400 square miles or 3,600 square kilometres.
Animals of particular interest include the leopard, the clouded leopard, the pygmy slow loris, the yellow belly pheasant, and long-tailed pheasant, the giant salamander, five step snake and many more. Others include the stump tailed macaque, the suman sheep, the pangolin, the black bear, the lynx, the otter, the forest musk deer, the samba deer, the jackal, the mandarin duck, the sparrow hawk and a few more.
Rare species include the bison, the wild goat, the wild boar, the wildcat, the civit cat, the flying squirrel and several more.
A wild mountain range of high areas the carve through the Iberian peninsula is being slowly rewilded. Still housing forests of oak pine and Juniper, the area still feels ancient.
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Many species were lost from this area but are being reintroduced. Wild bears and wolves yet to return the Iberian lynx is back along with both Egyptian and Griffin vultures.
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The area covered is large, consisting of over 850,000 hectares (more than half of this is officially protected). There are a variety of other interesting birds in the area, as well as deer, wild boar and mouflon. As a result of a reducing human population since the 1960s, nature tourism is increasingly important for the local economy. A network of 14 old growth forest reserves have also been created totaling about 2000 hectares, which are fascinating to explore and incredibly important for carbon sequestration.
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Visit to help ensure that this project continues and the locals benefit from its wok
Over the last half a century, the number of deer that live in the UK has climbed pretty much continually.
Red and roe deer numbers are increasing rapidly, as well as the many non-native species that now call the uk their home
In many parts of the country, the number of deer are controlled by regular culls. However, during the pandemic these have not happened, and that now means that 2 culls in a row have been missed.
The Forest of Dean is perhaps one of the biggest and healthiest woodlands within the UK.
Part of this is down to its significant population of wild boar.
Before humans hunted wild boar to extinction, they were a highly important part of our ecosystem, and generally woodlands in the UK show their absence.
What do I mean? One of the benefits of wild boar is that their rooting behavior. While humans often do not like this, as this rooting behavior can destroy gardens or picturesque roundabouts, areas that have had this treatment are perfect for trees to germinate and start to grow.
Indeed we were astounded walking around the forest to see so many small copses of new tree nurseries. In this sense wild boar fulfill a similar niche of being ecosystem engineers as beavers in rivers.
Apart from the boar, there is a healthy population of deer. Roe deer exist here naturally. Fallow deer were introduced by the Normans and this is the most common species to see. In recent years Muntjac deer have also recently become established and are fascinating. There are a small number of red deer that still exist though seeing these is a lucky day.
Adult rooting with boarlets (or as some call them Humbugs)
One of the big advantages of boar presence is a reduction of ground cover
Wild boar are surprisingly large animals and we have had a couple of encounters with them on our visits.
The best way to spot them is by driving some of the back roads in the early evening.
I have once spotted a family from the car, and this year two boar ran past while we were walking a forest path.
Both were in a similar location. I will put together a page of information that will be sent with any booking made from the accommodation further down the page, or I can provide just this information for £10 if you have found a place to stay elsewhere.
The Forest of Dean is a truly wild woodland. While it is scattered with villages and towns, this is the only place I have seen beetles actually behaving as dung beetles, in the UK.
The government has also started a process of translocating pine martens to the area, and while the animal is shy, signs of its presence will increase over the next few years. If the translocation is successful, then it will also slowly remove the grey squirrels from this wood, which apart from being good for the health of the trees, will allow red squirrels to recolonize.
Visiting a place like this allows you to hunt for signs of the animals such as tracks, as well as spotting the actual animal itself.
Boar are highly intelligent, and fascinating to see. Care should be taken as they can be dangerous, particularly when they have young.
Places to stay
Below is a variety of lodgings which are close to wild parts of the forest. There is also a link to search all accommodation available within the forest of dean. Any bookings support the work of the site. The places we have listed are close to where we have had our sightings, however boar are found throughout the forest so do not feel restricted to just the places we listed.
Campsites will be listed below the hotels.
Link to search all available lodgings listed on booking.com throughout the Forest of Dean
Inglewood House Monmouth, prices from £90
Demense Farm Guesthouse, monmouth, prices from £122
Raglan Lodge, Monmouth, prices from £40
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