Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Planning a Future for the Wolves of Scandinavia.

Simone Harbas

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Beulig, Alfred

Keywords

Wolf, Canis lupus, Conservation, Wildlife Management, Scandinavia

Area of Concentration

Biology

Abstract

The gray wolf (Canis lupus; Linnaeus, 1758) has undergone many major population size and distribution shifts over the past few millennia, mainly because of human pressure due to hunting and land use techniques. By the mid 1970s, the historic wolf population of the Scandinavian Peninsula (Norway & Sweden) had been exterminated, along with many other populations across Eurasia and North America. In 1978 a breeding pair of wolves migrated into central Scandinavia, eventually settling along the border of Norway & Sweden, starting what would become a slow and problematic recolonisation of the Peninsula. This population of wolves faces specific pressures that have affected their development until now and will most likely continue to jeopardize the population's long term future if not addressed. Here, I have catalogued the biological and human sociological factors that have limited the growth of this population. By drawing upon suggestions put forth by international conservation groups and examining studies of similar recolonisation attempts, I have put forward possible explanations of how and why certain cross-sections of the people of Scandinavia perceive wolves in a negative manner, and how best to alleviate this tension through sensible management and public relations plans.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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