Monty Don says wolves should be reintroduced to Britain as deer are destroying our woodland

[exmoor dave]

The same irresponsible idiots want wolves / lynx / whatever, released in GB. Despite all the evidence offered from EU states where severe problems have been reported, photographed and written about.

As I said, those with most to say have absolutely nothing to lose by parading their ignorance.

That price is paid by our cattle, sheep, goats and domestic pets. And ultimately our busInesses.

Not quite the same on the scale of badness, but I read the Johnson siblings had, for Stanley's birthday, arranged a licence to introduce beavers to their exmoor "estate" (small farm)
With much help from someone (can't remember the name) from Re-wilding UK

 

[egbert]

Struth that is absolutely horrendous

The ones I've found most unsettling are cctv vids of wolves coming into towns - turkey esp has a problem, but it's growing in Germany- and snatching dogs from backyards and outside houses.
Seeing someones collie sized pet barking at the strange dogs coming up the street, and then simply being lifted by its scruff and carried off for consumption is real ugly to behold.
There was a real creepy vid of some german walking his pet terrier sized dog on a lead -through town- and being very carefully and deliberately stalked by a wolf in the bushes.
Feckadoodle.....this is where the fairy stories about the wolf come from kids!

I wish those promoting this - and you can bet Goldsmith is right in there- would look at these images, and ask themselves if they really want that in the UK.

 

[DrWazzock]

Can we have some bears in the woods please, if only to confirm the widely held theory.....

 

[steveR]

Not quite the same on the scale of badness, but I read the Johnson siblings had, for Stanley's birthday, arranged a licence to introduce beavers to their exmoor "estate" (small farm)
With much help from someone (can't remember the name) from Re-wilding UK

I trust that they keep said beavers on their "estate" then....

What are regs on controlling them?

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Super predator Dave. You've got to admire them. They will take what's easy and just for the fun of it too, just for the practice, as the multiple killings above have shown.

I'm no expert or anything but they do really interest me. Fantastically successful animal. The UK, being so small would be ideal for them. They can chase prey for many miles. The UK even in it's most remote parts would see prey local to them every single day of the year.

I heard an interview with some wolf expert who said if any creature can hear a wolf howl it needs to be aware it's in range to be killed. And that can be miles and miles.

I heard the end of a programme on radio 4 and the wolf expert described being in an enclosure with a trainee and he suddenly realised they were being stalked by the alpha female, and had to make a quick escape from the enclosure, I didn't realise until then, that they will hunt people too, so no way I want them here.

 

[sidjon]

The ones I've found most unsettling are cctv vids of wolves coming into towns - turkey esp has a problem, but it's growing in Germany- and snatching dogs from backyards and outside houses.
Seeing someones collie sized pet barking at the strange dogs coming up the street, and then simply being lifted by its scruff and carried off for consumption is real ugly to behold.
There was a real creepy vid of some german walking his pet terrier sized dog on a lead -through town- and being very carefully and deliberately stalked by a wolf in the bushes.
Feckadoodle.....this is where the fairy stories about the wolf come from kids!

Quite common in Russia, clears the stray dog problems

 

[matthew]

Wandering the Wilds of Herefordshire....

Noooo. Fenced into his Berluddy gardens.

Not quite the same on the scale of badness, but I read the Johnson siblings had, for Stanley's birthday, arranged a licence to introduce beavers to their exmoor "estate" (small farm)
With much help from someone (can't remember the name) from Re-wilding UK

Houston, we have a problem. Boris Alexander de Pfefell Johnson keeps some Major rewilding company. Not least his current squeeze, Carrie Symonds who holds hands with the Goldsmiths and also Johnson senior. Stanley.
The Conservation Animal Welfare Foundation has a wish list which reads like horror story for British farming.

And these people have manoeuvred themselves into positions where they can do most damage, with least responsibility for the consequences.

 

[Ted M]

These people are clearly deluded.
A wolf pack's territory can be anything up to 6300 square kilometres,
Shropshire is about 3500 km2..
Are they going to fence them in?

 

[steveR]

Noooo. Fenced into his Berluddy gardens.




Houston, we have a problem. Boris Alexander de Pfefell Johnson keeps some Major rewilding company. Not least his current squeeze, Carrie Symonds who holds hands with the Goldsmiths and also Johnson senior. Stanley.
The Conservation Animal Welfare Foundation has a wish list which reads like horror story for British farming.

And these people have manoeuvred themselves into positions where they can do most damage, with least responsibility for the consequences.

About time Bozzer dumped Carrie and found an old fashioned "hunting, shooting , fishing" type of gal.

 

[lloyd]

Monty Don has an opinion on most things . I used to sit in the 'planning committee' on the council. Any application within 10 miles of his place and he would be objecting .

Yes he didn't like supermarket strawberries much.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

I will add to be honest I agree that we probably have too many Deer, however the answer is not Wolves, but more shooting.

 

[Paddington]

We have wolves (fenced) around here but I've never seen them. Neighbour was doing a job on the roof of the wolf owner's house and was told they were used to humans. At lunchtime he came to go down the ladder for his bait and noticed several wolves lying in the sunshine at the foot of the ladder. He thought about the phrase "used to humans", did it mean seeing humans, being around humans, or as part of their diet ? Decided he wasn't hungry and sat on the roof until they wandered off.

 

[flowerpot]

Monty Don needs to go to America and have a walk round a forest. You realise that there are things out there that can kill you, it is quite a different feeling to having a walk anywhere in England.

I was riding a horse through a forest in North America and we were being stalked by a coyote which upset my horse a lot, he was very anxious. We'd seen the coyote when walking with a dog too and guessed that there he was protecting his litter of cubs. The dog went into the undergrowth and came back howling (he was a big softy). Coyotes are only the size of a big dog, wolves can be huge and they hunt in packs of course. It would certainly change a Sunday ramble!

Wolves we re-introduced to Yellowstone with great benefit, but that is a wilderness, not over populated Britain!

 

[steveR]

I will add to be honest I agree that we probably have too many Deer, however the answer is not Wolves, but more shooting.

Which means more Markets required for the venison. That is the problem from what I have been hearing from shooters!

 

[steveR]

Monty Don needs to go to America and have a walk round a forest. You realise that there are things out there that can kill you, it is quite a different feeling to having a walk anywhere in England.

I was riding a horse through a forest in North America and we were being stalked by a coyote which upset my horse a lot, he was very anxious. We'd seen the coyote when walking with a dog too and guessed that there he was protecting his litter of cubs. The dog went into the undergrowth and came back howling (he was a big softy). Coyotes are only the size of a big dog, wolves can be huge and they hunt in packs of course. It would certainly change a Sunday ramble!

Wolves we re-introduced to Yellowstone with great benefit, but that is a wilderness, not over populated Britain!

Not sure some/many Ranchers agree regarding the Wolf re-introduction as they "stray" a long old way out of the park, where any stock killers are controlled hard.

 

[flowerpot]

I daresay the wolves stray into ranch areas, with subsequent grief, but there has been massive impact for good within the wild park for the ecosystem.

I have also ridden in Montana where there are cattle and calves turned out all over the mountains and there were mountain lions around so I guess the ranchers just have to live with them being around. In fact the ranch horses wouldn't come up to the buildings by themselves as they wouldn't pass through a belt of woodland where the lions sometimes sheltered so the owners had to go and round them up and fetch them in every morning. There was probably enough noise and activity to scare off any lurking lions.

There is a book called The Last Wolf by Robert Winder that puts forward the theory that since in the UK the last wolf was killed in 1290 it allowed England to enjoy a huge agricultural revolution, namely development of large sheep flocks that became the national wealth.

 

[sidjon]

I daresay the wolves stray into ranch areas, with subsequent grief, but there has been massive impact for good within the wild park for the ecosystem.

Would think the wildlife of 88 had the biggest effect on the ecosystem not the wolf pack, guessing bears are still the biggest controllers of the deer population?

 

[steveR]

There is a book called The Last Wolf by Robert Winder that puts forward the theory that since in the UK the last wolf was killed in 1290 it allowed England to enjoy a huge agricultural revolution, namely development of large sheep flocks that became the national wealth.

One to look for, thank you.

 

[Suffolk Serf]

I daresay the wolves stray into ranch areas, with subsequent grief, but there has been massive impact for good within the wild park for the ecosystem.

I have also ridden in Montana where there are cattle and calves turned out all over the mountains and there were mountain lions around so I guess the ranchers just have to live with them being around. In fact the ranch horses wouldn't come up to the buildings by themselves as they wouldn't pass through a belt of woodland where the lions sometimes sheltered so the owners had to go and round them up and fetch them in every morning. There was probably enough noise and activity to scare off any lurking lions.

There is a book called The Last Wolf by Robert Winder that puts forward the theory that since in the UK the last wolf was killed in 1290 it allowed England to enjoy a huge agricultural revolution, namely development of large sheep flocks that became the national wealth.

The UK population in 1290 was 4.75 million (thanks Google), if wolves were a problem up until then, what a nightmare they would be to a population of 60 million.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

Whilst many of the points these people (you know what I mean) make can be good, does he seriously think it’s a good idea to have a fantastically successful vicious predator roaming around the British countryside?

I think wolves are incredible and beautiful creatures but I’m chuffed if I want to be doing my current job, which involves faffing about in fields in the dark very often, with the thought I might see one or more wolves licking their lips.

I watched a documentary once about reintroducing wolves to a remote valley in the USA. The valley was many tens of thousands of acres with not a single human inhabitant, but many were up in arms about the prospect.

One chap said “The wolf is an incredible and evil creature. If the devil himself had a pet, he would have a wolf.”

That's right, man's best friend is a sub species of the wolf.