Wolves could thrive in Scotland … ‘behind a fence’
able to reproduce, while in the Białowie a National Park in Poland, surrounding human activity has created a barrier to wolf movement patterns.
Biologists found that the wolf population of Riding Mountain National Park in Canada had limited interbreeding with other wolf populations in nearby protected areas and no successful wolf dispersal from the park had been recorded over several multi-year tracking studies over 40 years.
Dr Sandom said: “Fences are a common but unpopular tool in biodiversity conservation and would ideally be avoided. But where there are conflicting interests, compromise is needed. Fences particularly constrain animal dispersal but as Britain is an island, this is
less of a problem. A fenced reserve in Scotland could be a fantastic opportunity to return large predators to Britain, ecologically restore a large part of the Scottish Highlands, and promote tourism.”
The researchers suggested that grey wolves, also known as timber wolves, would be the best candidates to be reintroduced in Scotland.
A previous experiment in Yellowstone national park in the US found that bringing back wolves to cull deer herds led to forests coming back and more biodiversity. It has since been hailed a major success story.
Dr Joseph Bull, lecturer in conservation science at the University of Kent, said: “Wolves are glorious animals, and were originally natives of these shores. The idea of them returning will be thrilling for many people.
“While our model offers insights into what is likely to happen, the crucial next step would be to test these ideas in practice – by creating a reserve, reintroducing wolves, and closely monitoring the system.
“More generally and perhaps counterintuitively, barriers in some form might have a more important role to play in establishing modern wild areas than previously thought”.
Professor David Macdonald, director of WILDCRU and co-author of the study, said: “Scotland can lead Europe in thinking about how conservation, large fenced reserves and tourism can reframe rural economies.
“The role of fencing in the conservation of big predators is globally a hot topic. So far our results are just simulations made from the safety of a desk, but they offer a highly original way of thinking about restoring nature and natural processes.”