WOLF

7th December 2023

Photo Credit: Pixelmix from Pixabay, via CANVA

He’s mad that trusts

in the tameness of a wolf,

a horse’s health,

a boy’s love,

or a whore’s oath.

FOOL: King Lear, Act 3, Scene 6

WOLF (Canis lupus)

Wolves are one of Shakespeare’s ‘go-to’ metaphors for savagery, greed, violence, and a variety of merciless behaviours. Wolves appear in at least 27 of Shakespeare’s works. Wolves would have been well known from Biblical and Classical contexts as well as Anglo-Saxon and early modern English writers such as Chaucer. There were no actual Wolves living wild in England in Shakespeare’s time. They had been hunted into extinction in the 15th century, but there were still Wolves living wild in Scotland until at least the 18th century in Scotland. Lizzie Marshall has examined historical sources for Wolves and carried out research into attitudes towards Wolves in modern society.

Management of wild Wolf populations and reintroductions, potential and actual, are among the most charged debates in conservation. Reintroductions have been proposed in Scotland since the 1960s but concerns about conflicts with the keeping of domesticated animals has been one of the main arguments against reintroductions. Other European countries have carried out reintroductions or wild Wolf conservation programmes and there are strong views on both sides of the debate. The reintroduction of Wolves to Yellowstone Park in the USA has been the subject of much research into the ecological benefits and the social context of living next to wild predators.

More Information

British Mammal Society: Wolf Blog

Guardian, Lisa O’Carroll: EU & Wolf Conservation (Sep 2023)

IUCN Red List: Grey Wolf

Lizzie Marshall: Words on Wolves

WolfAlps EU Project: Visit Site

Yellowstone Wolf Project: Visit Site