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.

aaa Swedish lapland

Swedish Lapland, far north of sweden

Sweden’s Lapland is a beautiful area. Lying in the far north of Sweden, like much of Sweden the land is heavily forested. Wolves are rare in Sweden, though this is as a result of over hunting – Europe has said that Sweden needs 170-270 wolves for a healthy population. Sweden is a huge country, which could support far more if they were allowed to naturally control their numbers. Being a country about the size of France, but with far fewer people, stating the country can only support 170 wolves is ridiculous. Bear numbers are higher, and there are thought to be around 2000 wolverines within its border (this was a population I was quoted if we visited).

It should be noted, that, the only difference between here and further south, is the number of wolverines – we did not get this far north, and where we were wolverines are just occasional visitors. The one difference is the reindeer presence. There are around 260,000 reindeer in Sweden, though it should be noted that these are only semi wild.

Sweden’s bear population is going up at the moment, and is currently thought to be around 2800. Generally, it takes some local knowledge to see wild bears, and your best chance is in a bear hide. We have one listed in the hides section of of this website. One of the big advantages of doing this in the northern parts of Sweden is the sunlight lasts more of the night. As bears are largely nocturnal, this allows more time to watch. When I visited the bear hide, it got to dark to see at about 2am but got light enough again at 5am.

Below is a video of the area. As you can see, while there is some wildlife, there is not a great deal. Generally you need a guide to take you out as finding the wildlife is a difficult job. We hope to be adding plenty of links below.

After the countries biggest ever wolf cull, now Sweden is going to allow hundreds of Lynx to be hunted

Licenses to kill 201 lynx have been given, just weeks after a wolf cull where dozens of wolves were killed. In the case of the wolves, despite 300 being declared the minimum by scientists, the government has set the minimum at 200 – thought to be an effort to appease the hunting lobby.

Lynx living wild in Sweden – if hunts of this size continue, this site may become a thing of the past

Continue reading “After the countries biggest ever wolf cull, now Sweden is going to allow hundreds of Lynx to be hunted”

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)

The Iberian wolf is a subspecies of the grey wolf found on the Iberian peninsular. It reached its minimum in the 1970s with 500-700 iindividuals living in the wild. Until the middle of the 19th century, it was widespread, throughout the Iberian peninsular. It should be noted, that wolves have never had high densities, and the wolves of western Europe are not thought to have ever had a population much above 848–26 774 (depending on which end of the estimate you rely – but is the founding population of both the Iberian and Apennine population).

They have been gradually spreading from their 1970s holdout – in a hunting reserve called the Sierra de Culebra which is a hunting reserve straddling the North eastern border of Portugal, and across the border in Spain. This reserve is fascinating, and may well be a good way to support wolves in other areas. There is significant belief that the wolf populations in Southern Spain is extinct, however, should the recovery of the Iberian wolf is allowed to continue, I could well see wolves re-settling these areas within the next couple of decades

They have in recent years, started to meet with Apennine wolves, who re-entered France back in 1991-1992, and settled in the  Pyrenees. The small pockets of wolves in Southern Spain are isolated and are certainly threatened long-term. The Iberian wolf had its last survey in 2021, and at that time the number of wolves was estimated at 2000-2500. It should be noted that in 2021 wolf hunting was banned in Spain – between 2008 and 2013, 623 Iberian wolves were hunted legally, and I think that it is fantastic that this has been banned. Having said that, it means that the wolf hunting number was around 5% of the wolves in the country each year. This is at a level which should allow the population to grow over time.

These wolves are fascinating to see in the wild (I have seen them and heard them), and the best way to make sure that they say in the wild is to go see them. They are fantastic for ecosystems, and are very exciting to see in the wild. As we add destinations, they will appear below.

The Apennine wolf is also known as the Italian wolf. Back in the 1970s the population reached its minimum, where the population reached 70-100 individuals. It has recovered well since then, with an Italian population of roughly 3300. However, since the early 1990s, this subspecies has been gradually moving into France. As such, at the end of 2022 the number was estimated at 1104 wolves in France.

The Italian wolf is considered the national animal of the country (at least by some) and features heavily in writings from across the history of the country (going back as far as the Roman empire). It was listed as a subspecies back in 1921, and the range almost exactly 100 years ago in 2019 is shown to the right. It should be noted, that wolf range is likely to have increased significantly in the 5 years that have run since this map was created.

The genetics of this subspecies suggests that it went through a genetic bottleneck in the last 20,000 or so year, and it is thought wolves were isolated south of the alps, and unable to exchange DNA with any other group of wolves. Now they have been able to move beyond the alps, this isolation appears to be over, and there are already couples breeding, which will improve the health of each population as a whole.  Keep an eye on the news box below which will list articles on this subspecies.

The Apennine wolf is found throughout  much of Italy, and an increasingly large parts of France, as well as even sections in Spain in the Pyrenees. There is much wilderness across its range, and as such there is likely space for a far larger population. It is also worth noting, that the deer population across Italy and France is higher than it has been for some time, and as such a recovered wolf population is likely to control these at more natural levels.

Never-the-less, there is much tourism in all of the range of the Apennine wolf. Any places that we have listed to see this wolf subspecies will appear below.

The Eurasian wolf, is the subspecies which runs down the east coast of the Adriatic sea. It is found in much of the countries in which it lives, but not throughout the area (its distribution is patchy, but relatively easy to move between areas where they are found. The numbers are thought to be roughly 3900 throughout this area.

 It ranges through Western Europe, Scandinavia, the Caucasus, Russia, China, and Mongolia. Its habitat overlaps with the Indian wolf in some regions of Türkiye.

In places like reserves, wolves are seen relatively regularly. The reserve we visited a bear hide, has a permanent person looking after it, and he claimed he saw wolves about once a week.

While this sub-species does not have a population growing particlarly fast, it is also not shrinking fast either.

We will aim to list places to see them below. Do get in touch if you have somewhere that you do see these wolves regularly, and would like to list your destination. Letting other people pay to see the wildlife that you see all the time, can help reward their ongoing survival as well as bringing in some money which can help you .

Although, the only subspecies to take the name Russian, Russia hosts a range of wolf subspecies. Also known as the Northern Asian subspecies. I have not found much information on this subspecies, but hope to add more soon as it becomes available.

The Tundra wolf is the Eurasian equivalent of the Arctic wolf. Also known as the Turukhan wolf, it is native to Eurasia’s tundra and forest-tundra zones from Finland to the Kamchatka Peninsula. It was first described in 1792 by Robert Kerr.

The tundra wolf generally rests in river valleys, thickets and forest clearings. In winter it generally feeds on female or young wild and domestic reindeer, though smaller animals like hares, arctic foxes and other animals are sometimes taken. A survey of stomach contents of 74 wolves caught around Nenets Autonomous Okrug in the 1950s were found to consist of 93.1% reindeer remains. In the summer period, tundra wolves feed extensively on birds and small rodents, as well as newborn reindeer calves.

They are classed as least concern, and as can be seen, have a large range. There is no estimate of their numbers, but it is likely to be one of the more numerous in the world. (if anyone has further information do let me know)

 

Indian wolf

The Indian wolf is one of the more well known, partly as their starring role in the Jungle book by Rudyard Kipling. I do remember my great grandmother talking about seeing 4 wolves running in the distance. It is thought to have 2000-3000 individuals left in the wild, though given its former large range, this does not appear very high. It should not be surprising, therefore, to hear that this is considered as one of the most endangered subspecies of the grey wolf.

It is found in arid and semi-arid peninsular plains of India, though from the distribution map to the right, you can see that much of its range is found outside India. The Indian wolf lives in smaller packs of 6-8. It has a reputation for cunning, and makes far less noises than other wolves, having very rarely been known to howl.

It was described in 1831.

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.

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

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)

Hides

Hides

There are many animals that are almost impossible to see. This is for a variety of reasons, but the most common is that the animal is nocturnal and or shy.

For this reason hides are very useful. They essentially consist of something that the people can sit in, so that they are invisible to the wildlife in the area, allowing the wildlife to approach without fear.

In the UK the majority of hides are set up for bird watching, though I have also visited badger hides. In Europe the majority of hides are set up to watch bears (many were once hunting hides), though if lucky wolves can be seen from these on occasion as well. In Africa there are all sorts of animals to be seen from a hide at night – generally animals rarely seen during the day, such as Aardvark.

Some hides have beds so you stay in them throughout the night, others are used just in the evening or the morning. Also of interest is where the hide is, for instance if the hides below lies in Sweden. Due to its latitude, during the summer months it is bright enough to see for much of the night, which obviously makes visits more valuable. Other hides will have night vision googles, still more will mount infrared or visible lightsi

Here is the wildSweden bear hide. Other than bears (we saw 6), our visit included a wolf, badger fox squirrels an various birds

If you own or operate a hide and would like to be listed on this page please click here

Wild trip to Sweden – Part Two – Bear watching

We first headed to the area north of Västerås which is prime bear territory. Despite their size and therefore presumed clumsiness, bears are astoundingly quiet when they wish to be.

That being said, an area inhabited by bears or wolves tends to be pretty wild, and so there tends to be a feeling about the area. In the UK there are few areas with low enough density to allow this to happen but in Europe that is different. Sweden accentuates this even more, as Sweden only had a population of just under 10 million spread out over a country the size of France. This means Sweden has a population density of 24 people per square km compared to UK 407 per square km. Continue reading “Wild trip to Sweden – Part Two – Bear watching”

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