Rewilding: Should We Bring Back Wolves?

Right, everyone, let's make a start, shall we?

Tonight's question is whether wolves belong back here.

Belong? They've been gone three hundred years, and good riddance.

Well, that's one way to open a debate!

But hear me out before you reach for the pitchforks.

In Yellowstone, wolves were reintroduced in the mid-nineties.

Elk stopped lingering by the rivers, and willows bounced back!

Then the beavers returned and started building dams again.

And how much of that is wishful thinking?

Well... fair point. The scale of the cascade is still debated.

Hunters, bears and drought played their part too.

So the wolves get all the credit. Typical.

Look, I've got four hundred ewes on that hillside.

Lambing's hard enough without a predator at the gate.

You won't be the one finding carcasses at dawn!

I'm not dismissing that. Losses do happen, and they hurt.

But in most of Europe, disease and weather kill far more sheep.

Ugh, statistics won't console me when it's my flock!

Perhaps we could talk about what would actually help?

In parts of Europe, farmers are compensated for verified kills.

Compensated? And who decides what counts as verified?

Independent assessors... and frankly, payouts can be painfully slow.

Prevention works better, though! Guardian dogs, night enclosures, fladry!

Fladry? That sounds like something you'd order at a pub.

Ha! It's a line of flapping flags along a fence.

Wolves are wary of it, at least for a while.

Hmm... and who pays for the dogs and the fencing?

Any serious scheme should fund that upfront. Non-negotiable.

Well... I'm not saying yes. I'm saying I'd listen.

That's more than I expected from tonight, honestly!

I'll take it! Shall we visit some shepherds in Italy together?

Only if you're paying for lunch.

Right, on that note, tea and biscuits are at the back!