Wolf sightings in Ireland

Crann na Beatha

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Judgement Day

How do you think they would have got here? They can't fly and were definitely hunted to extinction a very long time ago. That said, so many irresponsible pet lovers have all sorts of exotic pets anything is possible.

TheBigLebowski

Judgement Day wrote: »

How do you think they would have got here? They can't fly and were definitely hunted to extinction a very long time ago. That said, so many irresponsible pet lovers have all sorts of exotic pets anything is possible.

Pretty sure wolves aren't extinct.

Teferi

I'm pretty sure the poster just meant Ireland...

Anyway, there are no wolves in Ireland as far as I know 'cept the zoo?

Run_to_da_hills

Timber wolves make great pets, a guy had one in a motorcycle scrap yard in Mountrath a number of years ago.

Dusty87

Iolar wrote: »

Have there been any confirmed sightings of wolves in Ireland?

Not since Wolfe Tone:p

Dusty87

Judgement Day wrote: »

How do you think they would have got here? They can't fly

Id say they'd get here the same way wild boar and Muntjac deer got here, they didn fly either:eek:

meathstevie

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Timber wolves make great pets, a guy had one in a motorcycle scrap yard in Mountrath a number of years ago.

No they do not and neither do foxes just in case...

padi89

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Timber wolves make great pets, a guy had one in a motorcycle scrap yard in Mountrath a number of years ago.

Do they fvck :mad: That asshole should be prosecuted for keeping one.

Judgement Day

This site: http://www.invasivespeciesireland.com/news/alert.asp
maybe of interest to some here. Ducks and deer but no mention of wolves!

Wibbs

Run_to_da_hills wrote:

Timber wolves make great pets, a guy had one in a motorcycle scrap yard in Mountrath a number of years ago.

No they don't. They're very different to a dog. Very. They're useless as guard dogs for a start as they're very timid. Their default position is to run like fook:). They are almost impossible to housetrain and as they fully mature mentally(unlike a dog who acts like a pup all its life) they are much more pack orientated etc. If your man siad he had one and it would interact with you, or act anyway "aggressive"(confident rather than angry) like a dog, then it wasnt a wolf, it was a wolf dog hybrid at best.

There were wolves here. Big buggers too by comparison to the ones in the UK. The last one AFAIR was killed in Kerry in the 1700's

Dusty87

Wibbs wrote: »

No they don't. They're very different to a dog. Very.

Ah in fairness Wibbs they make as good of pets as Siberian Tigers.........


Just ask Siegfried and Roy

Valmont

Wibbs wrote: »

There were wolves here. Big buggers too by comparison to the ones in the UK. The last one AFAIR was killed in Kerry in the 1700's

If I recall correctly, it was 1786 (I read it in a natural history article somewhere). An absolute shame really. There is nothing quite as magical as trying to sleep in the woods with a pack howling only a mile away!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

[quote=A geographical perspective on the decline and extermination
of the Irish wolf canis lupus— an initial assessment Kieran R. Hickey:Department of Geography, National University of Ireland, Galway]
The last reliable observation of a wolf in Ireland, surprisingly comes from county Carlow when a wolf was hunted down and killed near Mount Leinster for killing sheep in 1786 (Moffat, 1938).
Although there are a number of claims for later wolf kills than this, none of them so far are based on documentary evidence from the time of occurrence and must be considered dubious at best (Fairley, 1984).[/quote]

This is the most reliable info.

jackthekipper

Valmont wrote: »

If I recall correctly, it was 1786 (I read it in a natural history article somewhere). An absolute shame really. There is nothing quite as magical as trying to sleep in the woods with a pack howling only a mile away!

Remind me not to go drinking with you, seriously though if wolves were around until fairly recently what would their main food source have been?

Kess73

jackthekipper wrote: »

Remind me not to go drinking with you, seriously though if wolves were around until fairly recently what would their main food source have been?

Guys drinking in the woods.

lightening

We Irish got on pretty well with wolves it seems, much to Cromwell's horror. England's wolves had long been exterminated. But as 1800 approached our Oak forests were decimated, livestock took over and the Irish wolf disappeared. So, Valmount is correct, wolves were knocking around here until relatively recently. And run to da hills is horribly wrong, they don't make good pets at all.

E39MSport

off topic.

I'm convinced I saw a black panther in Marley park in the railway area about 5-6 years ago. The warden wasn't convinced.

Crann na Beatha

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jackthekipper

Iolar wrote: »

Why wont the government take steps to re-introduce the wolf?

The re-introduction of some eagles didn't go down well, imagine how the population would react to rabid packs of man eaters prowling the country.

Crann na Beatha

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bijapos

Would be a few months of work for Joe Duffy and Liveline if we did reintroduce them. It would be almost impossible to convince people, esp the IFA, Daily Mail and what have you.

I have a friend who has a house in Yukon, he told me no human was killed by a wolf in the US or Canada in the whole of the 20th century. Don't know if this is true but I think its not too far off the mark.

Ideal place would be Wicklow Mts National Park. Could be used to control the deer population, they need to be culled every year anyway. But I admit keeping them in a set environment is difficult.

jackthekipper

Iolar wrote: »

Please tell me you arent serious with that statement.....

Of course, I was even going to mention werewolf; but I bet that would be the reaction of alot of people, as bijapos mentioned Joe Duffy would be flooded.
I think lightening brought up a very good point about habitat, Irish decidous forests have been decimated over the centuries. Don't some urban areas get foxes, imagine if a wolf started prowling around Mullingar or Tuam.

I'm sure Romania would give us a few wolves (and even bears) if we asked nicely.

jackthekipper

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm sure Romania would give us a few wolves (and even bears) if we asked nicely.

Bears haven't been around for a couple thousand years, I think.

lightening

jackthekipper wrote: »

I think lightening brought up a very good point about habitat, Irish decidous forests have been decimated over the centuries. Don't some urban areas get foxes, imagine if a wolf started prowling around Mullingar or Tuam.

They are very adaptable. There was a pack released in Scotland a while ago on private land, positive results began to appear after the reintroduction, the deer moved upland and the river banks flora began to rejuvenate massively supporting all sorts of other species that haven't been seen in a while. The people involved are in a quandary now, people want to fence the reserve now to stop the wolves wondering out of the reserve. But, if you fence it in, it becomes a zoo under law and you can't have predators and their prey in the one compound. So red tape may win this one.

Killarney might be a goer for this type of a project in Ireland, but I really can't see the farming community going for it. Also, it might leave a few upset hunters with us reverting back to the natural way of culling the deer.

There are urban foxes in most urban areas, but they are no harm. Wolves would be a good bit shyer than foxes. I don't think there would be a threat to humans.

Kaldorn

lightening wrote: »

They are very adaptable. There was a pack released in Scotland a while ago on private land, positive results began to appear after the reintroduction, the deer moved upland and the river banks flora began to rejuvenate massively supporting all sorts of other species that haven't been seen in a while. The people involved are in a quandary now, people want to fence the reserve now to stop the wolves wondering out of the reserve..

Can you give us a link to this story please? first I have heard about it and I should know because i am a wildlife reporter.

Rovi

Kaldorn wrote: »

Can you give us a link to this story please? first I have heard about it and I should know because i am a wildlife reporter.

Do some searching on Alladale Estate or Alladale Wilderness Reserve.

LINKY

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

lightening wrote: »

Killarney might be a goer for this type of a project in Ireland, but I really can't see the farming community going for it. Also, it might leave a few upset hunters with us reverting back to the natural way of culling the deer.
There are urban foxes in most urban areas, but they are no harm. Wolves would be a good bit shyer than foxes. I don't think there would be a threat to humans.

I'm amazes at times with how little some people seem to know about the needs of a species or of the populations and habits of our native wildlife. Killarney does not have the area required for even a small Wolf pack to survive. Also the Deer population is not sifficient to sustain a Wolf pack. The forests are not substancial enough and the variety of prey available too limited.
The dig at farmers is (from my experience of dealing with them on wildlife matter) is a bit unfair in this particular instance.

As for the assertion that Wolves would be shyer than Foxes and no threat to humans....Don't even start me on the errors in that.

lightening

Right, fair enough, I stand corrected. You are obviously a lot more experienced with wolves than I am. I have only been in their presence a few times. (they were shy) I said Killarney might be a goer. I thought with all the non-native deer knocking around there might be a chance of natural culling. I didn't have any "digs" at the farming community, I just said they wouldn't go for it and I'm probably right.

It's only a forum, I actually don't have a pack of wolves in the back of the golf ready to release. It's all just speculation and chat, so you might want to shorten those horses legs.

johngalway

lightening wrote: »

I just said they wouldn't go for it and I'm probably right.

As a much persecuted, misunderstood and future endangered species myself (sheep farmer with cattle experience) I would agree that your statement is correct.