The EU Migrant Crisis through the Eyes of a Wolf

Last year I was tasked with writing a journalistic piece for university, on a current affairs/environmental issue. In the current political climate and with the potential for walls along the US/Mexico border as well as across eastern Europe, it seems appropriate to post this.

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.