Wolves Plan Brings Howl Of Protest
By Hector MacKenzie in the Inverness Courier 28th, May 1996
Calls for the reintroduction of wolves to the Highland heartland's have been savaged by an Inverness farmers leader who has branded them "totally irresponsible." But Wolf campaigner Roger Panaman has pledged to fight on and says his scheme could give a massive shot in the arm to the Highlands £5000 million-a-year tourist trade. And a university zoologist has cautiously backed his calls and spoken of the economic advantages which could accrue to the area if a sensible scheme acceptable to worried farmers was hammered out.
Mr. Panaman, of the Carnivore Wildlife Trust, plans to raise £40.000 for an independent wolf environmental impact study to probe the possibility of reintroducing wolves to the Highlands. He says the establishment of a Highland wolf centre could kick-start a money-spinning eco-tourism venture worth thousands of pounds to the region.
Mr. Panaman told the Courier that a wolf centre in the United States similar to the one he hoped would be established in the Highlands generated £500,000 a year. His long term aim is to see a 500 square kilometre area of land set aside for a number of wolf packs, with numbers rising to a maximum of 300. Under his proposal, farmers would be compensated for any loss of livestock out of a special fund.
Of the opposition to his plans, Mr. Panaman said: "Better knowledge of wolves is the main thing which is needed. Farmers think wolves would wipe out sheep but they dont pose a threat to the livestock industry in any country." An independent environmental impact study could help convert enlightened landowners to the cause, he suggested.
The Highland Wolf Fund is now trying to raise £40,000 for a study. Its backers hope that a regulated Highland wolf centre would provide a tourism boost with activities including "howling sessions", wolf tracking and a wolf hospital.
Responding to fears about a spiralling wolf population, Mr. Panaman said the use of vasectomies pioneered in America was successful in keeping numbers down humanely.
Contacted for comment, the Inverness-shire president of the Scottish National Farmers Union, Donald Fraser, said: "I'm amazed that anyone would want to let wolves go. It took a long time to eradicate them, and when one escaped from a zoo not so long ago police had to warn parents to keep their children inside."
"To be honest these people just dont have a clue. Its totally irresponsible - this could result in a life threatening situation. I dont think it would ever get the support of the farmers or anyone else with common sense. It frightens me to think that educated people could be so ignorant."
The last wolves in Britain died out in the Scottish Highlands more than 250 years ago. Campaigners supporting reintroduction say the Highlands are the perfect starting point because of abundance of space, wild prey and the potential of eco-tourism. They say that the fact that the area also has too many red deer creating over-grazing problems - 300,000 is a common estimate - adds weight to their arguments. Wolves are still relatively common in parts of Spain, Italy, Finland and Russia.
Aberdeen University zoologist Dr. Martin Gorman told the Courier that biologically the Highland habitat was ideal, although he admitted that the issue was politically sensitive. "The reason they cannot be introduced just now is that farmers and landowners are heavily against it and clearly wolves would be shot," he said.
"The biggest obstacle is mans attitude and that would have to first change. Wolves would eat some sheep and there would have to be adequate compensation provided." But he maintained there would be benefits which cannot be ignored.
"Tourism will continue to be increasingly important to the area in the future. Agriculture and forestry are changing dramatically and eco-tourism could be tremendously important. We have some of the best wildlife habitat around. Increasingly, people are asking wether we have a moral duty to keep wolves alive for the future.
I would be 100 per cent in favour of reintroducing wolves if we could ensure that they would survive and would not suffer and we could also devise the means that people would be compensated.
© Inverness Courier: 28th, May 1996
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