Should wolves in Europe have their conservation downgraded? Are they really stable enough to be hunted again

The European commision has proposed downgrading the protection of wolves from their current strictly protected, but it has been suggested that this is not based on any science.

A total of 9 countries (The call for a re-evaluation of the annexes of the EU Habitats Directive is included in a note put forward by Finland with the support of Austria, Czechia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden, ahead of the EU Agriculture Council meeting of 23 January).

The problem with this move, is that while in some countries like Romania, there is a large and healthy wolf population, in other countries like France it is a very different matter. If there is a change in their status, it needs to be assessed country by country, and the European Union must really require minimum levels, otherwise, this move is highly likely to lead to the extinction of the wolf across much of Europe once again.

While living alongside wolves is not always simple, it is essential to have predators to control populations of prey, such as deer. This is not something that is easily replaced by culling, and in the UK, the likely reduction in car collisions with deer would save far more than the cost of compensation for the occasional livestock that might be lost (of course, the wolf is not currently wild in the UK and the current government sees no reason to change this).

While complicated, the interest in the wolf is high, and it is highly likely that farmers would be able to supplement their farming income by money they could be paid through ecotourism and allowing people to try to see the wolves from their land. Wolves as with many other species are still slowly recovering from centuries of persecution, they are needed for our ecosystem to flourish, and can be good for everyone, with adjustments and compensation for loss of livestock.

Pygmy Sperm Whale

 The Pygmy sperm whale is one of just two species from the Superfamily Kogiidae, the other one being the Sperm whale. They are seen very rarely, with the majority of the knowledge about them, coming from carcasses that wash up on the beach. It was first described in 1834 based on a skull that washed up on the coast of france in 1784 (50 years earlier). While originally placed in the same genus as the sperm whale, it was moved to its own genus Kogia, as it is actually a species which is half way between the dolphins and the sperm whale.

They grow to around 3.5m, which is smaller than many dolphin species.

It has a far smaller brain than the sperm whale (even by comparison size) which my explain why it has such a lot more simple social life.

Pygmy sperm whales are found throughout the tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, though there are also seen regularly off Russia. Fossils in Japan, Italy South Africa have been found, suggesting that they were more widely spread. The problem is, that seen rarely at sea, and with most of what we know about coming from carcasses, we have little idea if dead and dying animals behave differently to healthy ones.

Seen rarely, I have been unable to find out how long they can hold their breath, though as the sperm whale can hold its breath for 90 minutes, so its likely that the pygmy sperm whale is also an impressive breath holder – this would explain why they are seen so rarely.

Wolf

An Iberian wolf out alone

Wolf

The wolf is a species that is often on the top of the list of animals that people would like to see in the wild before they die. It is truly a wonderful thing to see.

I have been lucky enough to see them twice, once from a bear hide in Sweden (look at the hide list, this one is the only currently available) as well as also seeing an Iberian wolf briefly, as well as hearing them in the distance.

There is something magical about being in an ecosystem where you are not the only dangerous animal. Wolves are not dangerous in the same way as the big 5 from Africa. Even spending years in the field, you are unlikely to actually to get close to a wolf, and if you do, more often than anything it will run. For much of Europe, humans are having to get used to living alongside them, having destroyed the population in the last few hundred years. But they are essential for a balanced ecosystem – i certainly hope that eventually they will return to this country.

As many as 38 subspecies are listed, and as we make contacts for people to see the wolves, we will add more subspecies. Some examples include the Eurasian wolf, the Indian wolf, the Iberian wolf and even the domestic dog. However, it was found that many of these interbred along their boundary suggesting they are more of a clade than a subspecies. As such, below i have split the wolf species into 2 groups, old and new world wolves. Each will have a page, thought these will remain relatively sparse until we start adding links for where you can see them. I should add (once again) that this is a page for subspecies of the grey wolf. Any closely related wolf like the Alonquin wolf (eastern wolf) or the red wolf have pages of their own, as they have been granted separate species status (as opposed to separate subspecies, which will be listed on this page)

There is a great thirst in our increasingly artificial lives, for people to experience the wild. It is true that many do this on safari in Africa, or on a whale watching trip, but the interest in seeing wolves in their native environment only grows as time goes by.

The wolf is an apex predator. By hunting in packs, they are able to take down much larger prey than they would be alone, though a number of different subspecies have given up this advantage to be able to survive in places where large prey is not available. Subspecies like the African wolf subsist on rats and birds and rabbits and species of similar size. They are incredibly intelligent (when trekking in the Romania mountains we saw the sign of recent visits by the wolves, in order to plan their attack on the vast sheep flocks which would be herded through this narrow valley, several months later) and can plan a significant distance into the future. The Ethiopian wolf (a species that is not a subspecies of the grey wolf, but closely related) hunts in a very similar way, but not being a subspecies of the grey wolf will not appear on this page (it has its own page, accessible from the wild dog page or click here). The domestic dog is a subspecies 

Below is an image of a range of wolf subspecies. Each one will have a page devoted to it, and over time, we hope to list places to see each one in the wild. We rely on people who live alongside these animals to list places that people can see them (the whole purpose of this website is to create a wildlife travel marketplace, if you live somewhere wild, list it and make money while showing the world the amazing wildlife on your doorstep (if it is not a wolf, find your species – we wish long term to cater for all)

Old world grey wolf subspecies – Europe Asia Africa (note- the name of each has wolf after it – Iberian wolf etc. This does not apply to the last two)

Indian wolf
Steppe wolf or caspian sea wolf user Mariomassone Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported

Also the most recently confirm subspecies of the wolf – the African wolf. The move onto the African continent has required a number of changes in behaviour, which makes it easily confused with Jackels, but the African wolf is indeed a wolf. It split from the wolf/coyote ancestor just over a million years ago. Previously, it was considered a subspecies of the Golden Jackal.

African Wolf

Next we cover the Arabian wolf and the Steppe wolf (also known as the Caspian Sea wolf)

Finally, in the old world subspecies we cover 3 subspecies. Firstly the Himalayan wolf, then the Mongolian wolf. Finally we cover one subspecies, that is wide ranging, but is actually all classed as the same subspecies – this includes the Dingo of Australia and the new Guinea singing dog (we will include an image of both, as although they are the same subspecies they do look a bit different).

New world wolf subspecies- until recently, as many as 38 wolf subspecies were recognized in North America. The current agreement is that there is just 4 (it should be noted that while it has been a debate for over a century, the current agreement is that the red wolf is a separate species and not a subspecies of the grey wolf.

Why are wolves so fascinating?

  • Is it just their incredible level of intelligence?
  • Their incredible attachment to each other, and the care that they show, in feeding the young, as well as the old and frail.
  • Might it be a throw-back to the time when wolves were a great threat to livestock in the last few millennia
  • Might instead, it be a greater throwback to the time when wolves and humans hunted together – a likely way that wolves started to become the domestic dogs, that we share our houses with.
  • Or perhaps, it is simply the spine-tingling thrill to have an encounter with an animal that makes the whole natural world where it lives, quake by its howls.
The only destination that we currently have listed, is the Sweden bear-hide,  but please get in touch – whether you live in an area where wolves live, work in hospitality or wildlife guiding in the same areas, we want to help people find you – As with everything on this site, we take a small cut of income so should we find you no customers, it costs you nothing. Click on list your wild place, to get in touch or to build your page – it is very simple and will only take a few minutes.

We are eager to make this work – we want to make it so that living in the shadow of wildlife is capable of making people in these places more than they loose from the animals themselves (predation, threat to life and damage to property)

Wolves howling in Italy

I have only been lucky enough to hear wolves howl once in the wild, on the edge of the Sierra de Culebra in Spain (I have also heard them from a zoo). While it is reasonably common to hear a wolf howling in the wild, seeing it happen is far rarer.

A wolf howl is an eerie sound, and certainly lives up to its claims of being spine tingling. I do not consider it an aggressive sound, and certainly it is not meant as one – wolves howl as a way to spread out, and avoid having to fight. In other words, howls are for other wolves and are not intended to scare humans.

Now, I fully understand that as a farmer these noises can be more alarming. However, it has been clearly shown that with relatively simple processes wolf predation can be reduced to near zero (large dogs to live with the sheep, and bringing the sheep near the farm house at night.

Wolf howls are very useful for wolf researchers as it allows them to document the animals without changing their behaviour by getting too close. European wolves tend to howl less than American wolves as there is more history of wolf hunting here. Still, these howls do occur in Europe, and as they recover these nocturnal noises will spread and become more common once again.

Single wolf talking to its pack from the Ghirandi Reserve in Italy

This wolf happened to howl right next to a camera trap, hence the footage. If you watch (or listen) right to the end, you can hear the pack answer. I know for most people the sound of wolves howling is thought to be scary (this is perpetuated by horror films), yet as this is essentially a long distance chat, or even there to stop violence, this fear should stop.

Alps (including Julian and Balkan extension)

The Alps as well as the Julian, and the Dinaric Alps

A vast mountain range in central Europe, covering almost 300,000 square km (115,000 square miles). This place would naturally have been a wildlife haven. However lying at the center of Europe, the wildlife populations have been extirpated (a word for local extinction) from different sections of this range over the centuries. Importantly, the Alps have also had human settlements dating back a very long way (indeed, there is traces of Neanderthals in the alps 40,000 years ago. As such it is essential that as the wildlife populations are allowed to recover, this happens in a way that benefit the local human population.

One of the best-known and largest range of mountains in Europe, the Alps are a large mountain range that is shared between France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia. Measuring around 1200 km wide and 250 from top to bottom, this mountain range is huge. It includes Mont Blanc the tallest mountain in Europe. The part of the range covering Italy and Slovenia are also sometimes called the Julian Alps. Beyond this, with almost no gap, the Dinaric Alps, which lie in the Balkans continue this chain, stretch from Southern Croatia through Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and on into Kosovo and Albania in the Southeast. 

As with other mountain ranges in Europe, there are a number of mountain specialists such as alpine marmot and chamois, as well as ibex. Due to the relative isolation of mountain ranges, generally each has its own subspecies of animals such as ibex and therefore there are often not that many making them prone to local extinction. Below you will find links for each European Alpine country, this will go into more detail on each countries success at preserving the big 3 – bear, wolf and lynx; the smaller creatures can generally be seen throughout the alps, though many are altitude specific. 

French Alps in the summer

The Alps have a small but growing population of all of the 3 big predators of Europe wolf, bears and lynx. As in other parts of Europe there ride has been bumpy, however they appear to now be starting to do far better. Mountain ranges such as this, can often supply a last refuge of various wildlife due to the difficulty of hunters and Poachers from getting into the mountains often enough to eradicate them completely. A large mountain range like this which struggles so many countries can provide highways between different countries to allow the animals to recolonize.

There are currently about 100 wolves, split between the French and Italian Alps, with around 40 on the German side. It is thought that eight have crossed the border into Switzerland, though most of these are individuals so it is not thought there have been many successful raising of young. A Swiss wolf protection group estimates that there are now 300 wolf packs roaming the Alps. Now given the number of countries that it covers, this is not a high number, though it does suggest that recovery is well on its way.

There is a population of about 30-40 bears in the Italian Alps, though these are sparsely populated, and continue through the Apennine mountain range along the center of Italy (it is thought that there are around 60 of these bears in total). Lynx spread throughout parts of the Alps there are areas where they are not present. There is a good number in the west Alps where they are thought to be spreading nicely. Also exist in the east, in places like northern Croatia.

Obviously this is a large area, and therefore although the places you can go to increase your odds of seeing wildlife. I will attempt to build a network of pages to help in this search, though as with any wildlife watching nothing is guaranteed. 

Mountains are less used by humans so when wildlife returns it can thrive
Lynx are shy, and rarely seen, they are highly important for the ecosystem
Italian bear in the Alps Copyright VOLODYMYR BURDYAK

The Alps are spread across France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. These countries can be well split in two as far as their wildlife watching prospects. France Italy Germany and Slovenia all have populations of wolves bears and lynx, while these are usually small they are established either naturally or through reintroduction. 

Liechtenstein is too small to have a permanent population of any of these animals that is sustainable on its own in the long term, though from time to time animals are likely to wander across the border. Switzerland has no bears, though it does host about 80 wolves and about 100 lynx split into 2 populations (one of those is in the alps). Austria is thought to have two wolf packs , and also has a small number of bears that have returned from neighboring countries.

However, all countries in the Alps have healthy herbivore populations, including alpine marmots, chamois, ibex and even the Alpine Salamander is wide spread. This means that a hike in the Alps should lead to animal sightings, and children are likely to be fascinated if they are quiet enough to see any of the wildlife around you. While the predators are returning, there are still parts of the Alps where sightings are highly unlikely, and even in high density areas, expect to spend much time sitting quietly in order to get lucky. Having said that, the Alps are full of vantage points from which you can sit with binoculars or a telescope and keep watch over a large area – your best chance of seeing these charismatic but shy animals.

Below is a link to each of the countries, with more localized information and places to stay.

See Animals Wild