Wolf Conservation Research Articles

Felony or act of justice? – Illegal killing of large carnivores as defiance of authorities

Large carnivore management in Finland implemented under international conservation agreements has faced a severe legitimacy crisis as Finnish wolf conservation lacks both normative and empirical legitimacy. Local people challenge the authorities via active and passive resistance which manifests in illegal killings of large carnivores and in support and silent acceptance by community members. This article examines the sociopolitical dimensions of illegal hunting in a holistic manner by categorizing the crime according to the characteristics of the hunting violator and the motives for illegal actions against large carnivores, and by examining illegal hunting as a defiance of the authorities by revealing the neutralization techniques used. Data have been collected from District Court sentences and Police Investigation Records over a 6-year period (2005–2010). In addition, two hunting violators and two game management officials were interviewed. Illegal killing of large carnivores is a sociopolitical crime and manifests as explicit resistance and indirect defiance of game management authorities and EU-drafted management actions. Neutralization techniques are used to negate the shame from the stigma and sanctions associated with violating the law. Hunting violators have become noble bandits as they defy the central authorities whilst supporting local people in their struggle to maintain a livelihood and a safe living environment in large carnivore territories. The challenges inherent in the conservation of large carnivores in the context of a defiant agrarian activity address the means that develop the predators' role as a community resource.

Why do wolves eat livestock?: Factors influencing wolf diet in northern Italy

Thanks to protection by law and increasing habitat restoration, wolves (Canis lupus) are currently re-colonizing Europe from the surviving populations of Russia, the Balkan countries, Spain and Italy, raising the need to update conservation strategies. A major conservation issue is to restore connections and gene flow among fragmented populations, thus contrasting the deleterious consequences of isolation. Wolves in Italy are expanding from the Apennines towards the Alps, crossing the Ligurian Mountains (northern Italy) and establishing connections with the Dinaric populations. Wolf expansion is threatened by poaching and incidental killings, mainly due to livestock depredations and conflicts with shepherds, which could limit the establishment of stable populations. Aiming to find out the factors affecting the use of livestock by wolves, in this study we determined the composition of wolf diet in Liguria. We examined 1457 scats collected from 2008 to 2013. Individual scats were genotyped using a non-invasive genetic procedure, and their content was determined using microscopical analyses. Wolves in Liguria consumed mainly wild ungulates (64.4%; in particular wild boar Sus scrofa and roe deer Capreolus capreolus) and, to a lesser extent, livestock (26.3%; in particular goats Capra hircus). We modeled the consumption of livestock using environmental features, wild ungulate community diversity, husbandry characteristics and wolf social organization (stable packs or dispersing individuals). Wolf diet varied according to years and seasons with an overall decrease of livestock and an increase of wild ungulate consumption, but also between packs and dispersing individuals with greater livestock consumption for the latter. The presence of stable packs, instead of dispersing wolves, the adoption of prevention measures on pastures, roe deer abundance, and the percentage of deciduous woods, reduced predation on livestock. Thus, we suggest promoting wild ungulate expansion, the use of prevention tools in pastures, and supporting wolf pack establishment, avoiding lethal control and poaching, to mitigate conflicts between wolf conservation and husbandry.

Who let the wolves out? Narratives, rumors and social representations of the wolf in Greece

As a way of coping with uncertainty and threats to their livelihoods following wolf reintroduction, livestock breeders in Greece deploy incriminating rumors about the wolf and the premises and actors around its reintroduction. In this paper, we identify the social representations with which livestock breeders make sense of and constitute the wolf as a social object. Through Moscovici’s social representations framework, we show how enduring and contemporary (corresponding to core and peripheral) attributions formalize into coherent narratives and become designated as rumors by their unverified, third-party nature. To this end, the two rumors that dominate in Greece as well as the rest of Europe are that of wolves being secretly released by NGOs and wolves as genetically impure hybrids. These become counter-narratives to the dominant truth and function as the currency of the voiceless in wolf conservation. The paper situates these rumors in a global context of contemporary conspiracy theories on the wolf currently reproduced by disenfranchised hunters, breeders and rural residents. It suggests the affinities across these rumors point to generalizable drivers to rumor creation, including the perception of inaccessible official channels for communication.

A Brief History of Human-Predator Conflicts and Potent Lessons

Author(s): Geist, Valerius | Abstract: From the outset, humans evolved with severe conflict with wildlife, but which they mastered with great ingenuity. We are the only primate that can exist on the ground with large predators, day and night, and are not dependent on climbing trees or cliffs for security. Consequently, we regressed in climbing adaptations and body strength. Without that mastery over predators, there would have been no human evolution. This mastery led to a transfer of resources from predators and competitors to our self, followed very early by dispersal out of Africa into Europa and Asia. The archaeological record keeps hinting at predator-free conditions. At the end of the last glaciation, mega-faunal extinctions generated new challenges for humans, as the virtual absence of mega-herbivores profoundly changed the ecosystems, as fires replaced herbivores in consuming vegetation. Also, wolves escaped extinction, but not their enemies and competitors. Consequently, since the natural limitations on their numbers had been diminished, wolves had to be controlled, and native people rose to the task. Only in societies with disarmed citizens were wolves a menace, and legislation that frees wolves from human control eventually recreates that very menace. North America’s Pleistocene native wildlife survived under extremes in predation, such as was not experienced in Eurasia or Africa. Consequently, our native wildlife species, being quick and accurate learners, readily habituate and are very good at taking advantage of us. Problem wildlife may be created by humans’ irrational wishes which conflict with the biology of a species. This is well illustrated by current efforts at wolf conservation here and in Europe, where the unintended consequence is the assured destruction of the wolf as a species.

Laboratory Based Surveillance of Rabies Incidence in Ethiopian Wolf at Bale National Park, Ethiopia

In the Bale National Park s of Ethiopia, an estimated population of 250 wolves of greater than one year age exists, according to Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Authority (EWCA) pack observation done in 2010. A new outbreak of Ethiopian Wolf was observed between July 2015 and September, 2015 at Bale Mountains National Park. A collaborative investigation between Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) and Ethiopian Wild Life Conservation Authority (EWCA) was signed to undertake laboratory based surveillance of the dead wolves. Based on the MoU, field visits were made to collect and test rabies suspected samples for the presence of Lyssavirus antigens using the direct flouresent antibody test (FAT). Five samples collected for Lyssavirus diagnostic testing, demonstrated a positive result for the presence of Lyssavirus antigen whereas four samples revealed negative results using the direct flouresent antibody test. The rabies outbreak toll reached to fifteen wolves, of which nine samples were laboratory confirmed, and other six wolves were as epi-linked to the rabies laboratory confirmation result. Suspected dog rabies cases in and around the park was also observed some months before the outbreak occurred. The prevalence of wolf rabies in July was 2/250 (0.008), whereas it was 3/250 (0.012) in August, 2015. The death report of 4/250 (0.016) Ethiopian Wolf was registered as negative dFAT result in September, 2015. The other 6/250 (0.024) death cases were not submitted for laboratory confirmation. Human exposures occurred between these two months was zero. Mass vaccination of wildlife with oral vaccine is underway intensively to prevent non outbreak packs of the animals in the park to maintain the herd immunity level of the wolf population. Further molecular detection of the evolutionary history of wolf rabies in domestic dogs in and around the park and other wild animals’ rabies reservoirs should be undertaken.

Science and Scholarship Abused, and the Counter-Productive “Conservation” of Wolves in North America and Europe

Author(s): Geist, Valerius | Abstract: Although science forms the basis of wildlife conservation in the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, advocacy and inadequate scholarship have led to conservation legislation that is destroying the wolf as a species. “Wolf science” is flawed due to the denial of historical information about wolves, ignoring how wolves explore new prey, ignoring long-standing research on the social organization and its changes in wolves, ignoring hybridization as a cause of the genomic extinction, the use of genetic data without a taxonomic verification of specimen, misuse of mathematics, and espousing meaningless statistics. Wolves cannot be conserved as a species in settled landscapes. So called wolf conservation in North America and in Europe is in need of reevaluation, as it is destroying a genuine canid species.

RAD sequencing and genomic simulations resolve hybrid origins within North American Canis.

Top predators are disappearing worldwide, significantly changing ecosystems that depend on top-down regulation. Conflict with humans remains the primary roadblock for large carnivore conservation, but for the eastern wolf (Canis lycaon), disagreement over its evolutionary origins presents a significant barrier to conservation in Canada and has impeded protection for grey wolves (Canis lupus) in the USA. Here, we use 127 235 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified from restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) of wolves and coyotes, in combination with genomic simulations, to test hypotheses of hybrid origins of Canis types in eastern North America. A principal components analysis revealed no evidence to support eastern wolves, or any other Canis type, as the product of grey wolf × western coyote hybridization. In contrast, simulations that included eastern wolves as a distinct taxon clarified the hybrid origins of Great Lakes-boreal wolves and eastern coyotes. Our results support the eastern wolf as a distinct genomic cluster in North America and help resolve hybrid origins of Great Lakes wolves and eastern coyotes. The data provide timely information that will shed new light on the debate over wolf conservation in eastern North America.

Infectious disease and red wolf conservation: assessment of disease occurrence and associated risks.

Infectious diseases pose a significant threat to global biodiversity and may contribute to extinction. As such, establishing baseline disease prevalence in vulnerable species where disease could affect persistence is important to conservation. We assessed potential disease threats to endangered red wolves (Canis rufus) by evaluating regional (southeastern United States) disease occurrences in mammals and parasite prevalence in red wolves and sympatric coyotes (Canis latrans) in North Carolina. Common viral pathogens in the southeast region, such as canine distemper and canine parvovirus, and numerous widespread endoparasites could pose a threat to the red wolf population. The most prevalent parasites in red wolves and sympatric coyotes were heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis), hookworm (Ancylostoma caninum), and Ehrlichia spp.; several red wolves and coyotes were also positive for bacteria causing Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi). Coyotes had a more species-rich parasite community than red wolves, suggesting they could harbor more parasites and act as a disease reservoir. Species identity and sex did not significantly affect parasite loads, but young canids were less likely to have heartworm and more likely to have high levels of endoparasites. Continued disease monitoring is important for red wolf recovery because low levels of genetic variability may compromise the wolves’ abilities to combat novel pathogens from closely related species, such as domestic dogs and coyotes.

Community Resource Uses and Ethiopian Wolf Conservation in Mount Abune Yosef.

People who perceive economic benefits and enjoy unrestricted access to natural resources tend to support ecosystem conservation efforts. Our study explores whether this remains true in remnant patches of Afroalpine ecosystem in North Ethiopia, where communal land provides valuable natural resources for the local communities and also sustain small populations of the endangered Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis). Questionnaires were designed to assess ecological and socio-economic characteristics of the livelihoods of the Amhara people living in Mount Abune Yosef and their attitudes toward Afroalpine and Ethiopian wolf conservation. Of the 120 households interviewed, selected randomly from across eight villages, 80 % benefited from natural resources by grazing their livestock and harvesting firewood and grasses. The majority (90 %) also suffered from livestock predation by Ethiopian wolves and common jackals (Canis aureus) and crop raiding by geladas (Theropithecus gelada), birds, and rodents, yet more than half reported a positive attitudes toward Ethiopian wolves (66 %). People with positive attitudes tended to live close to the communal land, to own more livestock, and to be unaffected by conflict. Many also recognized the need to protect the Afroalpine habitats of Abune Yosef (71 %), and this attitude predominated among the literate, households that owned land, had smaller herds and were further away. We discussed how people’s attitudes were modulated by human-wildlife conflicts and by the benefits derived from the access to natural resources in communal land, and the implications for the conservation of Afroalpine ecosystem and the flagship Ethiopian wolf.

The Challenges of Red Wolf Conservation and the Fate of an Endangered Species Recovery Program

AbstractEndangered red wolves (Canis rufus) receive intense conservation efforts in the United States, and to date, population recovery has been challenged by hybridization with closely related coyotes (C. latrans) and illegal human‐caused mortality. Ongoing review of the red wolf program in the single recovery area in North Carolina prompted us to compare demography (survival, recruitment) and cause of death of red wolves and coyotes/hybrids. In most respects, canids had similar demographic rates, although sterilization was effective in controlling coyote reproduction. Comparison of previous (1999‐2007) to contemporary (2009‐2014) causes of death revealed that shooting mortality consistently accounted for ∼25% of wolf mortality. As evidenced by the lack of coyote deaths from strife with wolves, and stationary/declining wolf numbers during the last 15 years, current conditions are inadequate to establish a viable self‐sustaining wolf population. Accordingly, the program review should determine whether: (1) banning coyote hunting will sufficiently benefit wolf survival or recruitment; (2) the wolf population should be considered conservation‐reliant under revised recovery goals; or (3) the recovery program in North Carolina should be abandoned.

Resource selection by wolves at dens and rendezvous sites in Algonquin park, Canada

Eastern wolves (Canis lycaon) are a species of special concern in Canada and their geographic range appears to be restricted mainly to Algonquin Provincial Park (APP) in Ontario, Canada. Previous work showed pup survival was relatively low throughout portions of APP which may limit the extent to which this protected area can act as a source of dispersing individuals to adjacent areas. We modeled resource selection by wolves at dens and rendezvous sites to identify environmental variables that were selected and avoided in APP during pup-rearing. We also quantified differences in resource selection between den and rendezvous sites and investigated links between home-site selection and pup survival. Wolves selected dens closer to wetlands and water, farther from secondary roads, and on steeper slopes relative to rendezvous sites. When we modeled den and rendezvous sites separately, wolves selected wetlands, water, conifer forests and tertiary roads at dens, whereas they selected wetlands and conifer forests at rendezvous sites. Packs that lost pups to starvation and intraspecific strife avoided water and selected wetlands and mixed forests at home-sites more than packs that did not lose pups to these mortality agents. Previous research showed that pup starvation occurred for packs in APP with lower beaver density in their territories, and our results indicate that these packs selected habitats at dens and rendezvous sites associated with alternative prey (moose). Moose are likely more difficult prey than beavers to kill during summer which may contribute to the higher nutrition-related mortality of pups in packs with decreased access to beavers. Our results inform eastern wolf conservation efforts and should be considered during forest management and park planning activities in APP. More broadly, our research provides novel insight into temporal differences in home-site selection across the pup-rearing season and the relationship between resource selection and pup mortality.

How Stakeholder Co-management Reproduces Conservation Conflicts: Revealing Rationality Problems in Swedish Wolf Conservation

'Stakeholder' has become the primary category of political actor in decision-making, not least within nature conservation. Drawing from Habermas' theory on communicative action, this article argues that there are democratic deficits to the stakeholder model that promote citizens to remain locked in predetermined, polarized positions. It contends that the stakeholder model must, hence, be scrutinized with respect to its potential role in perpetuating conservation conflicts in modernity. Using the case study of stakeholder-based game management delegations (GMDs) in Sweden, our research identifies four barriers, which tie to the instrumental basis and liberal democratic legacy of the stakeholder approach: 1) strong sense of accountability; 2) overly purposive atmosphere; 3) overemphasis on decision as final outcome; and 4) perceived inability on the part of the delegates to influence science-led decision-making. The article suggests that these democratic deficits preclude the deliberation and contestation necessary to legitimate conservation policy. Indeed, stakeholder rationality causes citizens to become inert, instrumental agents who approach discussion with strategic rather than communicative rationality. We conclude that the deficits of the stakeholder model currently: 1) restrict democratic freedom for citizens; 2) engender a crisis of legitimacy of management; and 3) reproduce the conflict, which in Sweden relates to the conservation of wolves.

The EU Habitats Directive and wolf conservation and management on the Iberian Peninsula: a legal perspective

The focus of this legal paper is on the implications of the EU Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (Habitats Directive) for wolf (Canis lupus) conservation and management in Portugal and Spain. It addresses the (potential) relevance of both the area protection and the generic species protection rules from the Directive. Special attention is paid to legal issues raised by the range expansion of the northwest Iberian wolf population beyond the Duero River (both south and east), the immigration of wolves from France, the looming extinction of the Sierra Morena population, and the need for transboundary cooperation.

Roe deer reintroduction in central Portugal: a tool for Iberian wolf conservation

Species reintroduction is an increasingly important tool for species recovery programs and habitat restoration initiatives worldwide. Roe deer Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) densities are very low in central west Portugal (the Freita, Arada, and Montemuro mountains). This area is inhabited by the endangered Iberian wolf Canis lupus signatus Cabrera, 1907, whose numbers have dramatically decreased since the 20th century. An important step in a roe deer reintroduction program is to establish suitable reintroduction sites. The aim of the study was to identify such sites in central Portugal. An Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in combination with a GIS was applied to develop a habitat suitability model, which integrated empirical models and expert knowledge. The variables used in the model included land use, hydrographic network, asphalted roads, population/villages, and relief. Three reintroduction sites suitable for roe deer were identified as potential habitats for their future natural expansion. Those sites were considered as preliminary ones. Finally, future goals and actions are discussed in relation to the promotion of the ecological and social conditions that would favour the survival of roe deer and Iberian wolf in central Portugal.

Living with Success – and with Wolves: Addressing the Legal Issues Raised by the Unexpected Homecoming of a Controversial Carnivore

The central problem addressed in this article is the friction that may arise between EU legislation and subsequent developments that were unforeseen at the time the legislation was created. This problem is viewed through the lens of one such development, namely the remarkable comeback that wolf (Canis lupus) populations have been staging across Europe in recent years. Aided by legal protection, these large carnivores are returning to regions and countries from which they have long been absent, creating fresh legal challenges in the process. This article identifies and analyzes several concrete issues where there is an apparent mismatch between current wolf conservation and management needs on the ground and the phrasing or interpretation of relevant provisions in the 1992 EU Habitats Directive. These problems can be traced back, at least in part, to the fact that the current wolf comeback was unforeseen at the time the Directive was drawn up. The article thus provides an intriguing illustration of the slightly paradoxical notion that a development actually aimed for in EU legislation ± the recovery of European wolf populations ± can still come as a surprise.

Living on the edge: reconstructing the genetic history of the Finnish wolf population

BackgroundMany western European carnivore populations became almost or completely eradicated during the last ~200 years, but are now recovering. Extirpation of wolves started in Finland in the 19th century, and for more than 150 years the population size of wolves has remained small. To investigate historical patterns of genetic variation, we extracted DNA from 114 wolf samples collected in zoological museums over the last ~150 years. Fifteen microsatellite loci were used to look at genotypic variation in this historical sample. Additionally, we amplified a 430 bp sequence of mtDNA control region from the same samples. Contemporary wolf samples (N = 298) obtained after the population recovery in the mid-1990s, were used as a reference.ResultsOur analyses of mtDNA revealed reduced variation in the mtDNA control region through the loss of historical haplotypes observed prior to wolf declines. Heterozygosity at autosomal microsatellite loci did not decrease significantly. However, almost 20% of microsatellite alleles were unique to wolves collected before the 1960s. The genetic composition of the population changed gradually with the largest changes occurring prior to 1920. Half of the oldest historical samples formed a distinguishable genetic cluster not detected in the modern-day Finnish or Russian samples, and might therefore represent northern genetic variation lost from today’s gene pool. Point estimates of Ne were small (13.2 and 20.5) suggesting population fragmentation. Evidence of a genetic population bottleneck was also detected.ConclusionsOur genetic analyses confirm changes in the genetic composition of the Finnish wolf population through time, despite the geographic interconnectivity to a much larger population in Russia. Our results emphasize the need for restoration of the historical connectivity between the present wolf populations to secure long-term viability. This might be challenging, however, because the management policies between Western and Eastern Europe often differ greatly. Additionally, wolf conservation is still a rather controversial issue, and anthropogenic pressure towards wolves remains strong.

Multilocus detection of wolf x dog hybridization in italy, and guidelines for marker selection.

Hybridization and introgression can impact the evolution of natural populations. Several wild canid species hybridize in nature, sometimes originating new taxa. However, hybridization with free-ranging dogs is threatening the genetic integrity of grey wolf populations (Canis lupus), or even the survival of endangered species (e.g., the Ethiopian wolf C. simensis). Efficient molecular tools to assess hybridization rates are essential in wolf conservation strategies. We evaluated the power of biparental and uniparental markers (39 autosomal and 4 Y-linked microsatellites, a melanistic deletion at the β-defensin CBD103 gene, the hypervariable domain of the mtDNA control-region) to identify the multilocus admixture patterns in wolf x dog hybrids. We used empirical data from 2 hybrid groups with different histories: 30 presumptive natural hybrids from Italy and 73 Czechoslovakian wolfdogs of known hybrid origin, as well as simulated data. We assessed the efficiency of various marker combinations and reference samples in admixture analyses using 69 dogs of different breeds and 99 wolves from Italy, Balkans and Carpathian Mountains. Results confirmed the occurrence of hybrids in Italy, some of them showing anomalous phenotypic traits and exogenous mtDNA or Y-chromosome introgression. Hybridization was mostly attributable to village dogs and not strictly patrilineal. The melanistic β-defensin deletion was found only in Italian dogs and in putative hybrids. The 24 most divergent microsatellites (largest wolf-dog FST values) were equally or more informative than the entire panel of 39 loci. A smaller panel of 12 microsatellites increased risks to identify false admixed individuals. The frequency of F1 and F2 was lower than backcrosses or introgressed individuals, suggesting hybridization already occurred some generations in the past, during early phases of wolf expansion from their historical core areas. Empirical and simulated data indicated the identification of the past generation backcrosses is always uncertain, and a larger number of ancestry-informative markers is needed.

Isolation and characterization of pseudorabies virus from a wolf (Canis lupus) from Belgium

Aujeszky’s disease is an economically important disease in domestic pigs caused by the alphaherpesvirus pseudorabies virus (PRV). However, also wild boars are a natural reservoir for the virus, and this can lead to infection of wildlife carnivore species. Three wolves held in the wildlife park of Han-sur-Lesse in the province of Namur in Belgium were suspected to be infected with PRV based on the nervous symptoms they showed after being fed with wild boar offal. The diagnosis was confirmed for a female wolf by a positive real-time PCR detecting PRV. The virus was isolated from the brain tissue of the wolf and characterized by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and phylogenetic analysis. The obtained BamHI restriction fragment pattern of the wolf isolate was similar to that of the reference strain Kaplan, thereby characterizing it as a type Ip isolate. Type I PRV strains, and particularly subtype Ip, are predominant in European wild boar. Phylogenetic analysis based on the sequence of a fragment of glycoprotein C showed that the Belgian isolate belonged to cluster B and that the sequence was identical to that of wild boar isolates from southwestern Germany, eastern France, and Spain. This study is the first report of Aujeszky’s disease in wolves and shows that they are susceptible to PRV by eating infected wild boar offal leading to fatal neurological disease. This illustrates the possible implications of PRV-infected wild boar for the conservation of wolves and other carnivore species.

Wolf (Canis lupus) Predation Impacts on Livestock Production: Direct Effects, Indirect Effects, and Implications for Compensation Ratios

Growing wolf (Canis lupus L.) populations in the US Rocky Mountain Region have increased conflicts between livestock production and wolf conservation. Given that the costs of large carnivore conservation are disproportionately borne by local livestock producers, the United States uses compensation for wolf damage to reduce conflicts and mediate negative attitudes toward the predators. Current compensation programs, however, only consider the direct effects of wolf predation. Indirect effects, such as wolf effects on weaning weights, and conception rates, may also reduce profitability. By not including indirect wolf effects, compensation programs may systematically undercompensate ranchers. We use a stochastic budget model of a representative cow–calf ranch in northwest Wyoming to estimate the economic impact of both direct (death loss and injured calves) and indirect effects (decreased weaning weights, decreased conception rates, and increased cattle sickness) of wolf predation. Our results suggest that short-run (i.e., year-to-year) financial impacts of wolf indirect effects may be as large as or larger than the direct effects. Including indirect effects implies that the compensation ratio (i.e., number of calves compensated per confirmed depredation) necessary to fully offset the financial impacts of wolves would need to be two to three times larger than current 7:1 compensation ratio used in Wyoming.

From Ecological Concerns Toward Solving Societal Problems?

The wolf is an endangered species. Principles for the conservation of wolves have been agreed upon internationally through, for example, European Union instruments. However, international agreements and goals are often in opposition with needs and opinions at the national and, especially, local level. Differing cultural and practical perceptions have not been taken into account in the formulation of internationalising politics. Results of such ‘top-down’ politics include lack of respect and commitment at the local level. Ultimately, the wolf loses in this game. The article examines how wolf conservation and policy developed in Finland from the 1960s to the early 2000s. It will be shown how ecological concerns have been taken seriously in the design of the wolf policy while societal concerns have not gained similar interest or strategic planning.