Letter to Norway re wolf cull . Dear Sir Recent reports of Norway's plans to cull a significant proportion of its wolf population have caused great concern among members of our organizations. As you are aware large carnivores are increasingly coming into conflict with human interests. Their populations have declined globally under the pressure of habitat degradation, hunting, disease and the commercial trade of body parts. As a result of persecution grey wolves nearly became extinct in Europe, but fortunately they have been recovering steadily, thanks to a change in attitude and a revalorisation of the value of our wilderness throughout most European countries.
Carnivores come into conflict with man for a wide variety of reasons.
First and foremost, people see large carnivores as a direct threat to human life. The greatest source of human-carnivore conflict is, however, competition for resources, whether this is for land, man s domestic animals, or for prey species. Interestingly, grey wolves seem to have a particular public relations problem in this regard. Although they have seldom caused human deaths and livestock losses attributable to wolves are very low, they are often blamed for livestock attacks and are still widely and irrationally feared. Predation by carnivores on livestock is the root of a deeply ingrained hatred for carnivores throughout the world, with every domestic species from chickens to cattle being affected.