Should more wolves be shot? This question is now to be discussed again in the European Parliament - after a consensus was reached some time ago on the highest level of protection for this animal. Getting that through must have been a real feat, considering the level of the discussions. And now to reopen it? Because some animal owners are unable to use fences or herd dogs as protection and defense? The desire to shoot animals can really only cause astonishment.
From what position can such a decision be made? Someone who decides whether wolves are necessary or not should actually have a divine position. However, the presence of the wolf would then have to be seen as a mistake in "creation" itself - because if it has to be eliminated, something is wrong with the overall concept. This is a strange basic assumption - regardless of whether it is based on a divine or biological world view. It corresponds to the traditional idea - but that doesn't make it correct - that humans must intervene in natural cycles to regulate them. Underpinned by the Old Testament's "subdue the earth". You can see where acting in this way has led us: keyword species extinction.
In almost all deep dives into natural ecosystems, there is to be observed a sophisticated interweaving of the most diverse creatures and activities. The balance is always thrown out of kilter when humans enter the picture.
How is it still possible, and what does it mean that humans see themselves as the only living beings with rights? It goes without saying that such a viewpoint poses a serious ethical problem, especially in societies that always cite democracy as a fundamental value. But this premise also has fatal consequences on an ecological level. Unrestricted spread of an "invasive species", one could say from the perspective of the animals, whose habitats are increasingly restricted. The others that humans want to protect are locked up. If they are lucky, in fenced national parks, in reservoirs. With less luck, in zoos. All the poor souls who are only there because they are to be devoured by the bestia humana are treated completely devoid of any feeling. A look at the figures on how many are slaughtered daily and hourly, reveals something shocking. If humans were killed at the same rate as land animals and fish, the world would be deserted in 2 1/2 weeks. How many animals live in freedom, in their original habitat, also paints an alarming picture.
But back to the question: Why do we need wolves? Why do we need animals at all? Why do we need ants? And why do we need such strange creatures that disturb us at picnics or when we're sitting outside eating or drinking... for example, those strange wasps that are always a nuisance.
-Perhaps the question should be asked differently, Okapi interjects. -Who decides who is needed?
Zebra looks a little mischievous. -That was probably a rhetorical question.
It turns out that wasps can do a lot of things that we never even dreamed of before. When humans had this image that they were remote-controlled like little robots. An image that many people still have of insects, and of other animals in general. Of other animals too. Programmed by their instincts, they do everything without feelings, without an idea of what is at stake and without any awareness of themselves. In the words of behavioral ecologist and wasp researcher Seirian Sumner: "The problem with wasps is people". This probably also applies to lots of other animals - about whose abilities the general public knows little. They know so little, but remain stuck in their age-old clichés. One of them can be formulated like this: The world belongs to humans and evolution was only the preparation for their appearance.
Okapi says: -Ok. Now let's go back to the wolf. You have to concede, the wolf eats other animals, and may cause damage.
Zebra says: -All right, but there are others that eat a lot of animals. And where the wolves live in their natural habitat, there are no problems. Not even when living together with humans. There are cultures that traditionally have a completely different image of wolves. And respect them and give them space.
-Rome wouldn't exist without wolves, Okapi interjects.
Zebra nods. -Let me end with an enlightening quote! From the wolf woman's point of view, so to speak: “It's not by accident that the pristine wilderness of our planet disappears as the understanding of our own inner wild nature fades.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estés: Women Who Run With the Wolves