Pack attack?

Carlo steps outside his hut in the AppeninesA mountain range in Italy.. It is a moonlit night with fresh snow gleaming on the mountainside. Suddenly he notices a dark shape among the trees. A wolf! It stops for a moment; then an unearthly sound fills the landscape: "Owww! Owww!" The howling freezes Carlo's blood.

If Derek Gow has his way, this scene could be re-enacted in Britain before long. Gow is a champion of rewildingReturning developed or farmed land to its natural state by reintroducing species that once lived there. , and has helped bring beavers back into parts of the countryside. But wolves are far more controversial, with sheep farmers worrying about the danger to their flocks. 

Britain's last wolves probably lived in Scotland and became extinct in the late 18th Century. To English people, Gow says, they were "a symbol of something that was wild, subhuman, wrong, evil" that lived further north. But there is little evidence that they attacked humans: it was their attacks on sheep that prompted people to hunt them down.

Gow argues¹ that wolves are more important than sheep: "Landscapes with high densities of sheep have many fewer insects; there is erosion, vegetation loss, flooding and pollution." Wolves could also play an important part in controlling the deer population, which does great damage to trees and rare plants: at present it stands at two million.²

Wolves have long caught the imagination of storytellers. They have inspired tales such as Little Red Riding Hood and the legend of Romulus and RemusIn Roman mythology, twin brothers who founded the city of Rome. .

In Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, Mowgli is adopted by wolves. In Joan Aiken's The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Bonnie and Sylvia flee from them.

Several European countries already have wolf packs. There are an estimated 3,000 wolves in Spain and Portugal.³

The animals are protected by EUEuropean Union. An economic and political union of 27 countries. law. But France, Finland and Norway have carried out culls to keep their numbers under control. In France around 15,000 farm animals a year are killed by wolves.⁴

Writing in Country Life, John Lewis-Stempel sides with the farmers. He argues that they have improved the landscape without damaging biodiversityBiodiversity is all the different kinds of life you'll find in one area - the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world. Each of these species and organisms work together in ecosystems, like an intricate web, to maintain balance and support life. : "Allow the meadow to revert to wolfy wildwood: you deprive the skylark of a home."

In Germany, the authorities have tried to strike a balance. "Wolf commissioners" work with farmers to protect their animals. There is also generous compensation for livestock killed by wolves.

Should we welcome them?

Yes: When it comes to caring for the environment, nature knows best. We should restore the landscape to how it was before humans introduced agriculture and let wild animals roam free.

No: Wolves do not have a scary reputation for nothing. They are a real threat to humans as well as other animals. Farmers have a hard enough time making a living without worrying about fierce predators. 

Or... Wolves are fine as long as they have enough space. The answer is to keep them in protected areas such as national parks where they can hunt freely and do not feel the need to trespass on farmland.