#dace mech

Thank you for your question, and so sorry for the long wait! I am so happy that you want to learn more about Norwegian wolves. They do hold a special place in my heart of course ❤️

Norwegians are extremely splitted when it comes to our wolves. I believe that is the truth for most countries that are the home of wolves, but I believe it is probably a little more true in Norway. There’s a common saying (developed the past decade, I believe) that says: “Our wolves brings out the worst in us”, and I think that is spot on for the (what I call) extremists on both sides. There is several debate groups on Facebook which I have been a part in for years, but I stopped participating in the debates because the discussions are really as rigid as you can possibly imagine.

Wolves create strong feelings in Norwegians – for some of us they seem to be the epitome of our nature and a lot of us are extremely passionate about protecting them. For others the wolves affect our lives in a very negative manner. Hunting with loose dogs is almost impossible and several hunting dogs are killed every year. Having your dog torn to pieces does not make you love wolves. Not to mention all the sheep that is killed. 

Some people simply feel like the wolf prevents them from living a full life. Some of us love wolves and some of us hates them. Those feelings also makes us hate each other. We simply can’t understand eachother. There is a lot of conspiracy theories among the people against wolves, and a lot of them have very little trust in our scientists. Illegal hunting is a huge problem, and the “shoot, shovel and shut up” policy is strong among some people. There was a huge “razzia” against illegal hunters some years back, and the court charged them with the organized crime/mafia paragraph. I have been told by hunters myself that they shoot as many wolves as they can. Shoot, shovel and shut up. 

 “Protectors” on their side do not seem to be able to respect how some people feel negative about wolves. They seem to be extremely fond of personal attacks and threathening people who does not wish to have wolves around them. Attacking people are really not benefitting our wolves! 

Personally, I believe that a nuanced, balanced and openminded attitude on the matter is what benefits all – wolf, hunter and farmer. As our famous David Mech says: “Wolves are not saints nor sinners”. They are not Disney characters and they are not the dog of Satan. They are simply wolves. We have to come down on a less heated level to be able to come up with solutions, not attacking each other and missing each other’s points. As another famous wolf biologist Doug Smith once said: “Wolves can definitely live with people, people cannot always live with wolves”. And I strongly believe that. It is on us and the values we choose to hold on to. I just think we have to be careful to state what is the right values. We have to fight for those values, but with respect of others. And we have to be able to differ between our own values and coming up with solutions that benefits “both sides”. 

To answer your question more precisely: There was a study done by the Norwegian Institution of Nature Science (NINA) in 2018 about the Norwegian people’s view of our wolves. The study included 2200 people and shows that most Norwegians like having wolves in our country. 57 % liked or liked very well having wolves, while 27 % dislike or strongly dislike having wolves. 38 % said that they would like to have wolves where they lived.

I think it is important to understand that wolves live and are allowed to live in an extremely small part of Norway called the “wolf zone”. Maybe the numbers would be different if wolves were allowed in greater parts of Norway?

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The green area on the first picture shows the “wolf zone” of Norway. This makes up 5 % of the land area. Our politicans have decided that wolves are allowed to have maximum 6 litters (Norwegian/Swedish territories are counted as half a litter). Wolves are only allowed to settle down and have those litters within this green area.

The circles and triangles on the second picture shows position of known family groups and couples in Norway and Sweden (countings from 2019/2020).