ARGUING ABOUT WOLVES? My own view is simple:
wolves are a natural and essential member of
Earth’s creation, with every much a right to be as
you and me. At the same time, I have many ranchers
for friends. I also have a good ten years of experience
working as a shepherd in the Alps. I know the havoc
that one lone wolf on a killing rampage in a single
night can wreck. And yet, in a way, I don’t really
care if you’re “for or against” wolves, so to speak.
What I DO care about is that wolves, in a very deep
and profound sense, echoing back to the beginnings
of our own natural history as humans making charcoal
paintings in caves, are MIRRORS OF RELATIONSHIP.
How do I mean this? Wolves are mirrors which reflect
our relationship not just with THEM, but more
importantly, with EACH OTHER. If it is a sign of an
educated man or woman to be capable of holding
two different points of view at the same time, it is
also a prerequisite for genuine dialogue. In my view,
this is the key component missing in the perennial
“arguing about wolves,” It is also–potentially–a
defining characteristic of our species, a characteristic
not shared, it might be noted in closing,
with Canis lupus.