For a time during the 19th and 20th centuries, gray wolves were practically extinct across Western and Central Europe. Now, thanks to strict protection measures in countries across the region, their populations have risen over the past couple of decades — including a reported surge of 58% between 2012 and 2022. On the one hand, this is a conservation success story. On the other, however, it amplifies long-standing sociocultural challenges, namely human-wildlife coexistence with farmers. Wolves sometimes prey on livestock, which can cause financial harm to farmers. Joining the Newscast this week to unpack these sociocultural challenges is social scientist Emu-Felicitas Ostermann-Miyashita, from the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. Ostermann-Miyashita has studied the conflict between humans and wolves specifically in Germany, and has published suggestions for sustainable wolf-livestock coexistence. However, she says the problems are much less polarized than European media may portray them. “Some people hate wolves, some people love wolves, but that was also something which I wanted to look into whether that’s true or not,” she says. “And all of my studies which I’ve conducted so far on … the public perception or social side hint to a much more like gray [area regarding] public attitudes or public perception towards the species.” The European Union has voted to loosen the protected status of Eurasian gray wolves (Canis lupus lupus), which critics say could endanger the progress that has been made in the animal’s recovery. “Wolf populations have barely recovered after going extinct in most parts of…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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