Do wolves live in Wales

Answer 1

no, there are no wolves in eire. plenty of foxes, a few wild strays, but no wolves. The last wolf was killed in Co Carlow in 1786. It is estimated that up to the 16th Century there were over 1,000 wolves in the country. The large amount of wilderness, at the time, allowed them to roam with minimum contact with humans. However from the 17th century on, deforestation became more common and the wolf packs came more in contact with people, resulting in a rapid and alarming cull, until the last wolf was killed near Mt Leinster in Co Carlow after killing a farmer's sheep. There was only ever one wolf species in Ireland, the grey wolf (Canis lupus). It's the same species that's still found in Europe, Asia and North America. It was wiped out in the British Isles by humans.

In Kieran Hickey of NUI Galway says the major push to rid Ireland of wild wolves came during the Cromwellian government in the 1650s, with legislation and bounties to kill them off.

While the Irish themselves did not fare so well back then, there were so many wolves in Ireland that settlers from England and Scotland referred to their Answers.com as "Wolf-Land".

Very substantial bounties for wolf-kills led to systematic hunting until large areas were devoid of wolves through the late 1600s, says Dr Hickey. In an essay in Lost and Found II: Rediscovering Ireland's Past, Dr Hickey says professional wolf-hunters came to Ireland to carry out the extermination, and those granted land had to kill wolves or face fines. In 10 years of research, he has amassed 500 references to wolves in history, Archaeology and folklore, indicating the wolf had been in Ireland for at least 20,000 years.

In folklore, wolves were very important but considered evil, and were depicted as such in the Book of Kells. Their Answers.com and dung were used in medicine.

Cures included eating a dish of wolf meat to prevent a person seeing ghosts, and sleeping with a wolf's head under the pillow to prevent nightmares. Mr Hickey found place names referring to wolves in 20 of the 32 counties, and wolf hunting was mandatory under a ninth century Brehon-law text.

Ringforts were built from AD 500 to AD 1000 to protect cattle and sheep from them. William Russell, lord deputy of Ireland, was recorded wolf hunting with his wife in Kilmainham, Dublin, on May 26th, 1596. In 1558, 961 wolf skins from Ireland were exported to the port of Bristol.

Dr Hickey wrote that it was clear Ireland had a very significant wolf population during the 1500s and early 1600s, possibly well in excess of 1,000 animals.

He said the last authenticated date for the killing of a wolf in Ireland was 1786 on Mount Leinster, Co Carlow: a lone wolf which killed sheep was "subsequently hunted down and killed by the wolfhounds of John Watson, Ballydarton, Co Carlow

Answer 2

I have no idea, but whilst hiking up a mountain at Lake Ullswater we reached the top and found a sheep carcass that had been dismembered and obviously partly eaten.

So watch your back in the lake district!

Answer 3

Not in the wild, only in zoos or safari parks. Wolves were exterminated throughout the UK, including Wales, at the end of the 17th Century under the rule of Queen Anne. However, feral dogs and wolf-dog hybrids continued to live in the wild in North Wales for some time later than this.

Feral dogs have always been a feature of Wales, and within the last few years, there has been an attempt to re-introduce wolves to the wild in Wales, supported by the World Wildlife Trust and the Welsh Assembly. It's not yet known how successful this may be.

Answer 4

No, wolves have been extinct in the UK for many years now.

There are plans to reintroduce the wolf

Answer 5

There are no wild wolves anywhere in the UK.

Answer 6

yes but they were all sent off or hunted

Answer 7

Yes.