Hunted to extinction

Hounding of killer

Wolves once existed in huge numbers in Britain, having followed migrating herds of deer, boar and grazing animals as they moved north at the end of the last ice age 12,000 years ago.

Edward I (1272-1307) ordered their extermination and by the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509), the animals were virtually extinct in England.

As the wool trade flourished throughout Britain, and farmers needed to protect their flocks, wolves died out entirely. Records show the last Scottish wolf was killed by Sir Ewen Cameron in 1680 in Perthshire.