Having collated all the information we could on the current Norwegian wolf situation we acknowledge the complexity of the issues involved, characteristic of a situation where the interests of the various stakeholders are contrasting and often incompatible. Domestic animals are now rarely herded or guarded by dogs whilst grazing and thus are more vulnerable to predation. Furthermore, stockmen have lost the tradition of coexistence with large predators and modern protective legislation for carnivores is not matched by a positive co-operative attitude. Feral dogs also frequently contribute to livestock predation, but the blame is often apportioned to their wild relatives. While grey wolves may be responsible for some livestock losses, smaller carnivores such as wolverines, lynxes or foxes are probably responsible for most kills.
Wolves are territorial and prolific breeders.
The niches vacated by culling will be quickly refilled by wolves dispersing from neighbouring packs in Norway or Sweden. A stable resident wolf population will be easier to manage than a fluid one. Once the DN agrees to do a cull farmers will expect this approach to be repeated every time there is suspicion that a wolf has killed sheep, making the approach expensive and unacceptable in welfare terms. These facts remind us of the complexity of the issues involved when addressing carnivore conservation. An expensive single cull will not solve the problem, with new wolves likely to reclaim the voids left by the wolves DN would kill this winter.