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People of Southern Europe, meaning south of Denmark and west of Poland you mean.

With the exception of the Iberian Peninsula and its close to 2 000 wolves, which are not a problem neither for farmers nor people. Not to mention that the Baltic

States have a larger population of wolves than Austria.

The problem isn't the wolf. The problem is this:

1) People who do not know how to act in the wild, and do not bother to learn, and do not respect the wild.

1) City-made and city-based regulations and taxes making it nigh on impossible for farmers to safe-guard their animals. (This is a huge problem here in Sweden - close to all rural farmers do not mind our wildlife, far from it but the regs and taxes makes it financially unfeasible to put up proper fencing.)

I've met bear, lynx, wolf, badger, fox, moose, reindeer, boar and others- some of them tens of times. I know how to read their language and how to act. They cannot learn human, but we can learn nature.

If the political leadership knew anything, they'd make boar tax exempt meat and fair game the year around. They'd waive building regs for farmers in areas with predators so movable predator-safe fences wouldn't be such a hurdle - the cost of bearproof fences is 1/10th or less in the US to what it is here, and no building permit is needed.

As every hunter knows: if you let your dog roam off the leash in the forest, you're taking a risk. Hence, train the dog properly. If you're a city-dweller going hiking, accept and understand your lack of experience - you're a guest in nature's house.

As you can see, this topic is rather deer to me.

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Oh, sure thing. After all, I do live quite 'on the edge' of a small town (pop. 1600), and we don't have many neighbours. Around this time of year, plenty of deer outside at dawn, too.

Problem is, in places such as Austria there's not a whole lot of space left; Spain, by contrast, has vast areas without many, if any, permanent residents.

You're right about the 'byfolk' (city-dwellers) and their ignorance, to say nothing about insane gov't regulations and prices (same in Norway). Most city-dwellers are literally lost to these issues and constitute a significant hazard for them and others around.

As an aside, I remember friendly suggestions at one nat'l park in the US: checking in, the clerk told us not to leave any food in the car because bears. Imagine telling this to Europeans…

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These articles can be read as metaphors, with wolves representing politicians.

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Good point!

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Ridiculous, fear mongering article.

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