Big bad wolves?

Malcolm Parkin is right that we risk losing very many deer, and additional species, perhaps including farmed beasts, and even infants, if we allow these very effective predators’ reintroduction (Letters, 4 July). The historic loss of the wolf made realistic sense, but why on earth do people want them back?

Could the “excitement,” like that of the Spanish bullring or even the boxing ring, tempt the crueller human instincts, so apparent in armed conflicts? Nature is, naturally, much crueller than people involved in shooting and some other field sports.

There are, we believe, quite enough natural killers in the countryside. Fans of avian predators like sea eagles rightly admire such “magnificent” birds, but is a sparrow or a thrush less magnificent?

ISABEL AND CHARLES WARDROP Viewlands Road West, Perth

Witnessing the squees and nauseating fuss whenever a domesticated wolf or wolfdog appears on public transport, I can predict with supreme confidence that any wolves released into Britain’s wilds will be utterly ruined by tourists and sentimentalists long before they get a chance to eat their first child.

As Dr Hook’s sometime lyricist Shel Silverstein put it, they fill them with cakes and goodies until they’re too fat to move.

MARK BOYLE Linn Park Gardens Johnstone, Renfrewshire