From Graeme Ruxton, University of Glasgow
Glasgow
Darryl Mead identifies predation as a possible way to control deer numbers
(Letters, 14 September, p 52). He suggests that “the critical short term
change…must be to reintroduce large native predators… In Scotland
this would mean the wolf, brown bear and the wild boar.”
If I were a reintroduced wolf, I’d forget about deer and concentrate on
sheep. They are easier to spot, cannot run as fast and cannot put up as much of
a fight. Reintroduction of wolves might work if the wolves can be kept in an
enclosed area (say an island) where there are enough deer to support a viable
wolf population and no farmed animals to tempt them from venison. Such places
may be hard to find.
