Landowner Paul Lister has a grand vision: to see wolves return to the Scottish Highlands.



“Over the last decade wolves have migrated right throughout Europe,” he explained on Out of Doors. “They’re in every country bar Great Britain.”

There’s way too much livestock and far too many people in Great Britain to give wolves the freedom of the countryside Paul Lister

Paul has been inspired by the successful reintroduction programme at Yellowstone Park in the US, which has resulted in financial benefits to the rural economy as well as environmental benefits such as a reduced number of deer and more vegetation growth.

The Yellowstone scheme saw wolves being reintroduced to the wild, but Paul believes a direct copy would not be suitable for Scotland.

“If you release wolves into the Scottish Highlands they will migrate and breed and they will probably end up eating livestock,” he said.

“There’s way too much livestock and far too many people in Great Britain to give wolves the freedom of the countryside.”