Return of the Wolf: Conflict and Coexistence

good book. got delivered on time

Return of the WolfPaula Wild has written a book that is readable, and novel in approach. She takes a while, a sometimes convoluted pathway to reach the most important part of her book and the books message. The last two sentences of Return of the Wolf could easily have been the first sentences of the book, with development of her text around it. “I want to hear the wolves but I don’t want them to come too close. For their safety, not mine.” She uses the wisdom of Rancher Louise Liebenberg. “By keeping her livestock safe, she keeps wolves safe too. Wolves, like all animals, do what’s easiest for them to survive. It’s up to us to teach them that being around humans does not result in a reward...” I will return to this concept later.Perhaps it’s difficult to write a book about wolves, without going into what a wolf is and does to earn its living, and sound original while doing so, as there are so many books out there about wolves. Wild covers wolf biology, the myths, stories, persecution/historical interactions of people and wolves. In that breath, if someone has never read a book about wolves, Return of the Wolf might be an enlightening read. For those steeped in the biology of and history of wolves, there is relatively little new in her book in regard to those topics. It would have been nice for a footnoted text for background research if a reader is inclined to do further digging on certain topics. That said, her chapters deal with wolf background are jam packed with with wolf information.Where Wilds book differs from so many others about wolves lie in a couple different areas. She gives thirty pages to the topic of Coywolves, the result of interbreeding between wolves and coyotes and wolf-dog hybridization. As wolves were extirpated in the settlement of North America and the inevitable westward expansion, coyotes made their way East, and inevitably crossed with the few remaining wolves.The most important portion of Wild’s Return of the Wolf: Conflict and Coexistence deals with the conflict: wolves and livestock; wolves and people; and pathways for resolution to this conflict that will lead to coexistence. Wolves will always be wolves, and conflict with livestock will always present a challenge. She presents the aforementioned rancher Louise Liebenberg as an example of one who has learned to live with wolves, and uses a combination of methods to do so, including livestock guard dogs and a more proactive husbandry for her stock, reducing conflict and increasing coexistence.Wolf/human conflict is given a large portion of the book, both practical and philosophical. Wolves will attack people. Wild details her thesis that this is not uncommon, and not only in the realm of rabid/sick wolves. But, she emphasizes, that more often than not, in some way the wolves who have attacked people have experienced food conditioning or a continual habituation with people, and have lost their natural wariness. Wolves are large capable predators, and must be treated as such. When they associate people with food, and become too comfortable around people, the recipe for disaster will present itself. In that respect, the feeding by humans of all wildlife should probably be frowned upon. Wild also provides a two page wolf safety checklist of does and do nots.To conclude, the most important, and in that respect, novel idea put forth in Wild’s Return of the Wolf: Conflict and Coexistence is if we are to accept the return of the wolf, because of the nature of the wolf, we must anticipate conflict, and how to avoid the conflict. Don’t feed, don’t habituate, don’t encourage approach, and respect wolves for what they are. Conflict will continue to occur, and wolves will continue to die if we, as a species don’t change our ways. Our ability to alter some of our behavior and practices is a much more logical and easier path to pursue than expecting wolves, and for that matter other wildlife including those looked upon as good and bad to follow. In this respect, Paula Wild’s Return of the Wolf is an important addition to our sharing the planet with wolves.

Interesting book