Panic in the media: wolves attack livestock in the Kostroma and Irkutsk regions.

The wholesale extermination of wolves continues. We are losing the true Russian wolf, and instead of addressing the ecological problems and root causes that push wolves toward people, calls are being made to finally purge the wild of the last individuals. And it seems nobody cares why wolves are coming into contact with people! We have no specialists or experts dealing with the issue — there are only problems, the destruction of wolves by groups of hunters and calls to "kill more and more."

Right now the media are whipping up panic.

I quote the publication “Moskovsky Komsomolets: Kostroma”:

“Users of Kostroma social networks are now discussing an unexpected problem — residents of the village Berezniki, in the Kologrivsky district, complain that running a farm, and even simply living in the village, has become unsafe because the wolves that have multiplied in the surrounding forests have completely lost their fear. The grey predators no longer wish to be 'sanitary workers of the forest,' but prefer to feed on domestic animals — in the last few weeks wolves have killed four goats in the village, and the most recent incident occurred literally on October 26.

Villagers complain that people are even afraid to go outside after dark and call on Kostroma hunters to organize a large driven hunt for wolves to protect themselves and their livestock from this scourge.”

The same issue is commented on by the federal outlet “Komsomolskaya Pravda”:

“Wolves have been terrorizing the Kostroma village Bereznik in the Kologrivsky district for several days. Local residents raised the alarm on social networks.

According to eyewitnesses, the wild animals are destroying entire household farms. For example, the day before, wolves tore apart a sheep. Shortly before that, villagers chased one of the wolves that had carried off the remains of its prey. A couple of days ago, three more goats fell victim to the predator.”

I would highlight the following quotes:

“because the wolves that have multiplied in the surrounding forests have completely lost their fear”

“The grey predators no longer wish to be 'sanitary workers of the forest,' but prefer to feed on domestic animals”

“calling on Kostroma hunters to organize a large driven hunt for wolves”

The motives are immediately clear: wolves have lost their fear, they do not stay in the forest, they must be urgently exterminated! So that they stop frightening people and attacking sheep.

Now quotations from the material in “Okhotniki RU” — the largest hunting portal in Russia:

“Packs of wolves, before the onset of the winter period, begin to cause trouble for agriculture and residents of various regions of the country, staging raids on livestock and domestic animals — this time the grey ones are raging in the Irkutsk and Kostroma regions.”

“The district population notes that today five wolf packs are operating in the area at once, acting at different times of day, which has made people afraid to go out on the streets and to let children go to school alone.”

“Residents say that there are quite many young individuals in the packs, who are being battle-tested in practice by their experienced comrades, learning to organize raids and steal livestock. The packs are almost not afraid of people, feeling the absence of active human actions, which gives the predators extra confidence in their actions.

Also, by autumn the wolf population in various regions of the country has noticeably increased in number; wolf hunting is not very popular, as a result packs reproduce without any control from hunters, and then begin to test their strength, with the anticipation of the coming cold, attacking defenceless animals in private yards.”

Here the key phrase is “there are quite many young individuals in the packs.”

And now — point by point about the problem, what nobody is saying!

Worldwide there is extermination of wolves — in many countries and regions they have been "cleaned out" to zero. In other words, populations have been completely extirpated.

In our country there is mass trophy hunting of wolves, when hunters intentionally track and eliminate precisely the experienced individuals, pack leaders and providers. Wolf families are broken apart, the backbone of packs dies. Young individuals remain who cannot hunt and procure food themselves, after which they come to people in search of sustenance! They begin to live near humans; wolf-dogs (hybrids) appear, which are difficult to distinguish visually from true wild wolves, but these are no longer wild animals — they are intermediate types. Hybrids are unable to return to the wild because they are not true wolves, but they also cannot return to living with people because of their wolf blood.

The problem is known to scientists and specialists, and in past years the authorities of several regions convened urgent meetings on the problem of hybrids. In other words, they really are numerous, people see them and believe they are wolves! Then they simply shoot everyone, including the last genuine wolves. Destroying the most important key links in biological systems.

Thus we obtain:

• A synanthropic population of young wolves that settle near people and live close to settlements, provoking conflicts.

  
  
• The emergence of hybridization between wolves and dogs, which leads to GENETIC DEPLETION OF TRUE WILD WOLVES. We are literally losing the true Russian wolf.

Wolves in our country are permitted to be killed by any means, including cruel methods (traps and snares). They are allowed to be shot from helicopters, to use flash-bang devices, night vision optics, to destroy dens and kill pups. Moreover, money is paid from regional budgets for each killed individual, effectively encouraging and developing the industry!

In the past the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation identified discrepancies in regional budgets when large sums were written off "for fighting wolves." In reality this is just another opportunity to obtain immediate profit from an artificially maintained threat. And everyone understands this perfectly — bonuses for one killed wolf reach up to 50,000 rubles, and considering that wolves typically live in packs, you can calculate the potential profit from killing a wolf family.

And now there are conflicts with wolves in the Kostroma and Irkutsk regions. Everything that authorities, society and the media are calling for is to urgently gather groups of hunters and shoot all wolves indiscriminately. Ignoring their biological importance in ecosystems and provoking even greater problems, because the next individuals will simply move into the places of those killed, and they too will be destroyed, until wild nature is cleaned out of key predators.

If I were in the system of state governance, it is obvious that:

1. It is necessary to convene a specialised commission including the heads of the districts where wolves have been observed, scientists-experts (NOT hunters), game biologists and representatives of government agencies.

   
   

2. Track wolf movements, collect genetic material, DETERMINE WHO EXACTLY IS ENTERING SETTLEMENTS (young wolves, hybrids, or a real healthy pack, which is highly doubtful). Install GPS trackers to monitor wolf movement and interactions with other wolves in the region. These technologies are inexpensive, long used worldwide, and there should be no problem implementing them!

   
   

3. If it turns out that true wild wolves entered and the genetic material shows pure wild wolves, then organise an expert field group to follow wolf routes (territories). It is necessary to collect information and prepare a report on the state of biological systems! Is there a food base, and to what extent is there pressure from logging and recreational trophy hunting.

   
   
4. And AFTER THAT, BASED ON EXPERT ASSESSMENT, PROPOSE WAYS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. Not by mindlessly killing all wild wolves, whipping up constant panic among the population and then calling for the slaughter of all predators in the wild.

Allies!

We have been trying to protect wolves for a very long time — essentially the only ones doing this at the national scale. I have written a book on the issue globally, “The Right to Life,” and I launched a Public Initiative to the Government with concrete proposals to protect the true Russian wolf in Russia. We do not simply criticise; we offer real solutions.

Much depends on you! Either the wolves will be finally exterminated, or we together can change something and achieve the creation of a federal centre to study the problem and protect wolves across the country.

Take part in our initiative. There is also a document to the Government that describes the entire problem, a plan for its solution, as well as commentary from a Russian scientist-practitioner, a professor, one of the oldest experts of the USSR and modern Russia.

Public Initiative

Help! We must fight for life! There is no one else.

© PAVEL PASHKOV