THERE WILL BE TEARS!

 

     Poplar trees in France protected (belatedly) from Beavers.

Wildlife conservation these days has moved away from the “reserves” mentality onto a broader picture of re-introductions and re-wilding. But this brings “nature” closer to a wider spectrum of the public. “Nature” is no longer confined to a “reserve”. It is out there in the wider countryside. One may meet Cranes, Water Voles, and Beavers amongst others. 

“Coming to a woodland near you – Wolves!”

But those Wolves require quite a large territory to maintain them, and that to be far enough away from farmed habitat not to be a nuisance to livestock farmers. The same would apply to Beavers. So alright; they are not “top predators”. They are vegetarians. But they are still going to be in competition for fodder with grazing livestock.  I’ve seen in France the trails into riverside crops of maize they make. And the breaking down of riverbanks, and diversion of streams.

So while these re-introductions and re-wilding projects are ring-fenced they will be acceptable to the farming community. But history tells us that wild animals don’t stay ring-fenced. So when they come into conflict with us they will have to be controlled. I’m happy with that. But I don’t think the general public will be. “Shoot a Beaver? Whatever next?” If you are a person who gives wild animals names, you aren’t likely to accept that we shoot the surplus, or the “escapes”.

 I’ve grown up with livestock and nature. I know how cruel they can be. So I was happy to shoot Crows or Magpies that pecked out lambs tongues before their ewe could mother them. And farmers used to shoot Foxes and Badgers that raided their poultry houses and killed everything they could lay their claws on. Farm boys used to keep Magpie numbers under control to protect the eggs from outlaying hens. For several years I was shooting an average of a rabbit a day to keep my working dogs fed. So I’m quite happy to see these re-introductions if we are prepared to keep them under control when they become a nuisance. And that means culling. Quite simple. Quite humanely.

In a landscape where we have no top predators we will run into trouble unless we are prepared to step in to replace them. One of the reasons there are more Badgers in the countryside now than there has ever been in history is because we have removed all control measures on them. After Wolves came farmers protecting their poultry, and diggers, and keepered estates, and their numbers were kept under control. But fewer estates are keepered (fewer but bigger game units) and poultry is largely housed with far fewer “domestic” poultry keepers, and baiting/digging is now heavily outlawed (quite rightly), so the population has mushroomed. So now we are legally slaughtering them in the control of bovine TB. (It's unfortunate that the Wildlife Trusts chose this animal above all others as an icon!)

Likewise, deer are a plague to foresters, though we hear less about that. But where I live they are also a plague in gardens. I have had to ring-fence my garden in order to grow vegetables free from Roe Deer. So I’d be quite happy to see a Wolf or two on Kit Hill!. But I don’t suppose the local dog-walkers would agree with me there!

Nature Reserves are generally ring-fenced to keep out other people’s livestock. But re-wilding schemes will also have to be ring-fenced if we are to keep the higher predators and other re-introductions under control. So to be successful we will have to bear the cost of expensive/extensive fencing AND be prepared to shoot or trap the inevitable escapes and surplus stock. 

I’m happy with that for the sake of nature, but are you?

Comments

  1. maryatkinsonwildonlineMay 21, 2021 at 2:02 AM

    But will the law of unintended consequences apply in the future?

    ReplyDelete

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