There is right now quiet a lot of debate around our big predators especially the wolfs.
This raises an amazing amount of very strong emotions, from both those who would like to keep some of the predators in our nature, and those who would like to see them eradicated.
A relatively low number of sheep farmers actually have problems with wolfs killing their sheep. I must be said that for those who have wolfs come in to their herds, it is sometimes catastrophically!
https://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/150-sauer-dode-etter-ulveangrep/69930282
Every summer a little more than 2.000.000 sheep are set out to pasture in Norway.
in the summer of 2016, 2.094.000 sheep were set out.
104.500 were lost.
67.000 died from other causes than predator attack.
37.500 were lost to predators, and the percentage for the different predators were like this:
-Lynx 20,65%
-Brown bear 15,24%
-Eagle 7,69%
-Wolf 9,04
-Wolverine 34%
-Not determined 13,38%
https://www.nrk.no/ho/xl/ulven-er-ikke-sauens-storste-fiende-1.13566997?index=0#album-1-13567031
So the hard facts is that out of 104.500 lost sheep, the wolfs kill 3.390!
I'm thinking what stirs underneath here??
Why is there so much hate and shouting around the wolf situation??
There are people stating that the hunters should be shot!
And others saying that vegans are hateful, prejudice and ridicule!
The wolf has a strong symbolic position in our lives. As kids, we all heard fairy-tales. And if there a wolf in it, it was most certainly a treacherous beast! At the same time the wolf is used as a symbol for power, intelligence and freedom.
My conclusion so far is that it must be about control and power.
Farmers and land/forest owners feel that some outsiders (caffe latte drinking, Tesla driving city folks) want to control what they are doing on their land.
They seem to have forgotten that nature should be allowed to be natural!
And also they have forgotten that they should be the main caretakers of our common habitat here on this planet.
The philosophy seems to be: remove all obstacles so that we can make as much profit out of nature as possible, even if it means destroying it in the process. Drain the marshes, eradicate the predators.