Should we bring wolves back into Ireland?
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Ireland once had perhaps the highest density of wolves in Europe, nicknamed 'wolf-land' by the English who settled here in the 17th century. Wolf populations are now returning to small agricultural European countries, such as the Netherlands for example, which is half the size of Ireland and has three times as many people living there. Ireland is now the only remaining member-state of the European Union where wolves have not recolonised naturally, and as it is an island, will not do so. So why haven't wolves been reintroduced here?
New research from University College Dublin (UCD) conducted by Kilian J Murphy et al. working out of the Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology and Behaviour under Dr Simone Ciuti investigated the outcome of wolf reintroduction to Ireland using a modern simulation modelling approach. This approach allowed the research team to simulate the effect of wolf reintroduction to Ireland's national parks under a suite of different management and policy strategies, ranging from no management at all to landscape-scale interventions aimed at reducing wolf-human conflicts. The study ran more than 1,000 simulations to investigate if wolves could survive here, how they might use the landscape, and the consequences for deer and livestock within and around Wicklow Mountains National Park, Glenveagh National Park, Killarney National Park, and Wild Nephin National Park.
The study found that wolf reintroduction to modern Ireland is viable ecologically. That is, regardless of which experimental management or policy intervention is included, there is suitable space and prey for wolves to establish a territory and survive after reintroduction. More importantly, however, the research predicted a significant risk of human-wildlife conflict as wolves extensively dispersed outside of the national parks, wolf den-sites were typically located very close (c. 1.5km) to national park boundaries and, livestock depredations did occur. Interestingly, management strategies such as a “soft release” reintroduction, as was used to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone National Park, supplementary feeding stations for wolves within their territory and the introduction of livestock protection systems (fladry, electric fences, livestock guardian dogs) significantly reduced livestock depredations (average approximate reduction from seven events per month under no management to one event per month with the best strategy).
Policy changes (afforestation policies for example, simulated increasing the cover of woodlands by 50% within and around National Parks) further reduced the likelihood of wolf-human conflict by creating ecological buffers that reduce wolf-human and wolf-livestock interactions. Furthermore, the model predicted that wolves could potentially have a significant positive effect on reducing deer density within and around national parks, particularly when effective management and policy interventions are in place. In a nutshell, the study found that reintroducing wolves to Ireland’s landscape in 2023 would likely fail as wolf-human conflict would be rampant. However, with the implementation of governmental policies aimed at ecological restoration and the design of robust holistic management strategies aimed at reducing wolf-human conflict, the return of the wolf to Ireland may be possible.
Ireland is legally obliged to investigate the feasibility of reintroducing extinct species caused by human eradication, as a signatory to the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (1979) — but one study is not enough.
Investigating the feasibility of wolf reintroduction to Ireland must be viewed as a continuum toward ecological restoration rather than an isolated event. A continuum that must spur a fountain of research into the status of our national ecology compared to European counterparts and a cultural reimagining of our wild landscapes. The prospect of returning wolves to Ireland could be a powerful motive to fuel much-needed ecological restoration to prepare the landscape for the return of large carnivores, by restoring the ecological quality of Ireland's heavily degraded uplands, woodlands, and wetland habitats. This study is important because it adds nuance to a longstanding debate but it is far from conclusive. It is but one piece of a much larger research program (capturing ecological, socio-political, and economic considerations, among others) required to inform the scientific and socio-political debate on this topic and ultimately hand policymakers robust information that allows for an informed decision.
There are very real possible benefits and risks to the reintroduction of wolves to Ireland, and that is the reason that both sides feel so passionately and argue so vehemently against one another. Empirical research can quell this fire and ground both sides in science so that the decision surrounding wolf reintroduction in Ireland is based upon a comprehensive multidisciplinary empirical approach. Such an approach is vital to inform policies that ensure the coexistence of wolves with human activities, fostering ecological restoration while minimising potential conflicts. Ireland is among the most environmentally degraded countries in the world with heavily modified human landscapes consisting primarily of low-quality agricultural perennial ryegrass pastures, non-native conifer forestry plantations, modified and nutrient-enriched rivers, and industrially harvested blanket bogs, with small pockets of native intact habitat continually shrinking or reducing in quality due to human pressures.
Many of those who advocate for wolf reintroduction point to the predicted benefits of doing so. Research from other jurisdictions where wolves have returned has highlighted the positive effects of wolves for regulating deer populations and their effect on plant and tree communities, reducing the negative effects of overabundant macropredators, particularly those which are invasive (e.g American mink) that can exert pressures on species such as ground-nesting birds, and even human benefits, such as reducing the instances of road traffic accidents, reducing the prevalence of agricultural diseases such as bovine tuberculosis and providing tangible benefits to rural economies.
Concurrently, those who oppose the idea of wolf reintroduction have real and valid concerns, farmers fear for the safety of their livestock and their livelihoods, pet owners fear for the safety of their domestic animals and those who enjoy using the countryside recreationally fear that wolves pose a threat. Both sides of the argument can be made however at present neither can be definitive without the appropriate empirical research being conducted to investigate the true effects.
Ultimately it will be the choice of the Irish public to demand this research and truly pose the question of whether wolves should be considered for reintroduction. Wolves are interwoven into the cultural and historical landscape of Ireland. Wolves feature strongly in early Irish myths and legends in both positive and negative contexts and extensively in Irish place names (eg Knockaunvickteera, Co. Clare — in Gaeilge, cnoicín na mactíre or little hill of the wolf). Wolves persisted here in high densities even as native Irish transitioned from a hunter-gatherer culture to agriculturists, predominantly animal farmers and native Irish developed systems of co-existence which were written into Brehon Law, rather than systematic eradication of wolves.
Wolf populations dramatically declined during the period of English colonisation of Ireland where wildness was viewed as 'uncivilised' and the eradication of dense native woodlands, wolves, and the native Irish clans aimed to make the country suitable for plantation; such policies led to the eradication of attitudes, practices and knowledge systems that had fostered coexistence for thousands of years.
The last known wolf in Ireland was shot in Carlow in 1786.
As a relatively young state, becoming an independent republic only in 1949, we must now decide if the decolonisation of our national ecology is feasible and if so, how do we choose to reshape our landscape in our own best interests. These decisions must involve those who inhabit these lands first and foremost, but proceeding actions must be rooted in modern scientific research to ensure that choices are evidence-based and potential outcomes are understood by all.Kilian Murphy is an ecological research scientist working in the Lab of Willdife Ecology and Behaviour at UCD as a PhD student. Kilian specialises in using computational, statistical and quantitative modelling methods to inform evidence-based wildlife management and deliver empirical insights to stakeholders to foster better co-existence between people and wildlife.
- Kilian Murphy is an ecological research scientist working in the Lab of Willdife Ecology and Behaviour at UCD as a PhD student. Kilian specialises in using computational, statistical and quantitative modelling methods to inform evidence-based wildlife management and deliver empirical insights to stakeholders to foster better co-existence between people and wildlife.