When the wolf first came, I was really exited. I am very fascinated by wolves, and liked the idea of a little more 'wildness' in Danish nature. I do live in a big city. However, my perception have changed, seeing how they actually interact.
The problem is that Denmark is a small country, with very little space. Therefore, wolves come relatively close to some populated areas. The problem with this is, when they live so close to humans, they loose their natural fear of them. There are school children (age 12 for example) who have experienced being followed when walking to the bus-stop. Families, who do have fences that should be 'wolf safe' have had a wolf get into their back yard anyways, sometimes killing/injuring their dog.
In nature, predators will usually only kill what they eat. But since lifestock in Denmark are fenced in, once the wolf enters, they can't escape. It have been seen that the wolf kills several sheep at a time, because it is easier than it would be for wild prey.
This is not a question about farmers finding it cheaper/easier to just kill off the wolves. This is a question of people fearing for their own, and their childrens, safety. If there are no option to regulate them, they have access to unlimited prey, higher survival rate, and no natural enemies. Once they discover that humans are easy to prey on, we will have a bigger problem. And it will probably be children paying the price.
As much as I love the wolves, there are a different problem with it in Denmark.
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When the wolf first came, I was really exited. I am very fascinated by wolves, and liked the idea of a little more 'wildness' in Danish nature. I do live in a big city. However, my perception have changed, seeing how they actually interact.
The problem is that Denmark is a small country, with very little space. Therefore, wolves come relatively close to some populated areas. The problem with this is, when they live so close to humans, they loose their natural fear of them. There are school children (age 12 for example) who have experienced being followed when walking to the bus-stop. Families, who do have fences that should be 'wolf safe' have had a wolf get into their back yard anyways, sometimes killing/injuring their dog.
In nature, predators will usually only kill what they eat. But since lifestock in Denmark are fenced in, once the wolf enters, they can't escape. It have been seen that the wolf kills several sheep at a time, because it is easier than it would be for wild prey.
This is not a question about farmers finding it cheaper/easier to just kill off the wolves. This is a question of people fearing for their own, and their childrens, safety. If there are no option to regulate them, they have access to unlimited prey, higher survival rate, and no natural enemies. Once they discover that humans are easy to prey on, we will have a bigger problem. And it will probably be children paying the price.
As much as I love the wolves, there are a different problem with it in Denmark.