Concrete actions for maintaining wolves wild in anthropogenic landscapes of Europe

Introduction

The main goal of the project is to improve (or maintain favourable) conservation status of wolf populations that persist or are expanding into human-dominated landscapes of Europe. The objective of the LIFE WILD WOLF project is to improve conditions for land sharing between wolves and people in urban and peri-urban areas, without losing the ecological roles and cultural identity of wild wolves and local communities.

Challenges

This will be achieved through adequate management of critical situations where wolves show high tolerance for humans, triggering reactions of fear and negative attitudes that will hamper their long-term conservation and coexistence with humans at the EU level.

Wolf presence close to settlements increases the possibility of interaction with dogs. This could result in predation on dogs or crossbreeding, both of which represent a threat to the long-term conservation of wolves. The former increases hostility of local communities towards wolf presence, and the latter represents a threat to the conservation of the evolution-based resulting genetic pool of wild wolves.

Specific Objectives

The LIFE WILD WOLF specific objectives are:

1. Increased capacity to manage wolves and human behaviour in critically perceived situations in peri-urban areas.
2. Decreased wolf habituation to anthropogenic sources of food and loss of its ecological role, through decreased presence of attractants for wolves in peri-urban areas, including accessible livestock.
3. Increased understanding of wolf behaviour by local people and participatory data collection.
4. Improved understanding of the link between hybridisation and habituation/boldness.
5. Improved estimates of illegal killing and mitigation of root causes.

Implementation

The project will be implemented in eight European countries where wolves are expanding or persisting in rural, urban, and peri-urban areas, touching seven wolf populations. The project will establish five new Wolf Emergency Intervention Teams and improve the capacity of existing teams for wolves or bears.