The EU Migrant Crisis through the Eyes of a Wolf
Image Source: National Park
Explorers © Timm & Theresa Martin
Across Europe, border fencing is being erected to control the flow of immigrants and maintain security. But as well as violating the Shengen Agreement by restricting the free movement of people, such fences could threaten the recovery and survival of large predators such as the Grey Wolf.
Since 2015, an
increasing number of migrants have made their way from conflict zones in the
Middle East and Africa to Europe, with 1.2 million people seeking asylum last
year alone.
Most are fleeing war
and persecution, whilst others are economic migrants seeking work and a better
standard of living. One of the main routes into the EU is the Western Balkan
Route, which runs from Greece through Macedonia and Serbia to Hungary and
Croatia.
To prevent migrants
entering the country illegally, Hungary has constructed a fence along its
borders with Serbia and Croatia, forcing migrants to use official checkpoints
and claim asylum in line with international law. In Europe, there are now more
physical barriers along national borders than during the Cold War. Four metres high and constructed of wire
mesh and razor wire, there are concerns that these new fences could impact on
wildlife as well as human migration.
Europe has four large
predators – wolf, lynx, brown bear and wolverine. Persecuted in past centuries,
the numbers of these large carnivores are slowly starting to recover with
conservation effort and habitat protection in recent years. The European
Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) is recovering in ten isolated populations, some
separated by over 500km. Wolves need space - typically ranging 30km
per day to hunt and holding territories of around 250 square kilometres – and
are unrestricted by our political borders.
For the first time in
over 130 years, scientists have evidence of the long distance dispersal of
European wolves. A young male wolf named Slavc was tracked on his thousand
kilometre journey from the Balkans to the Italian Alps, crossing several
international borders before settling and successfully mating. Such movement of
individuals between meta-populations is important as gene flow between the
groups will benefit the species overall.
But the route taken by
Slavc is the same as that taken by many human migrants. Conservationists fear
that fences erected to prevent illegal immigrants entering Europe will also
have an adverse impact on animal migration and dispersal, and could threaten
the survival of our iconic large predators.
In a letter to Nature,
ecological expert Dr John Linnell of the Norwegian Institute for Nature
Research expressed his concerns. He considers that migrant fences may kill
animals by entangling them in razor wire, leading to the continued isolation of
populations and jeopardising the hard work of conservation agencies to
reconnect species. He believes the fences may violate the EU Habitats
Directive, and should be redesigned or removed at the earliest
opportunity.
Shocking images have
emerged of large animals such as deer becoming entrapped in fences and
dying. But is there any evidence that wolves will be harmed?
The Hungarian fence
runs along just 20% of the border, with the remainder formed by the river
Danube. Slavc himself was recorded traversing rivers over 200m wide and
successfully negotiating busy motorways and railways, so wolves seem adept at
finding a route through man-made obstacles as well as natural barriers.
It is an unfortunately
by-product that in trying to regain control of their countries borders,
governments are impacting international conservation efforts. Whilst there
appears to be no evidence that wolves are being directly harmed by migrant
fencing, erecting them may affect the free movement of wolves, threatening the
long-term sustainability of wild populations.
