In Alaska in North America, a woman was killed by a wolf during a jogging trip in 2010. In Norway or Scandinavia, there are no known cases of wolves attacking people in 200 years. But the fear that the predator may attack is alive and well in the areas where it travels and lives. Norwegian researchers are now studying how the wolf reacts to having walkers come quite close to it. Ane Eriksen is a researcher at Høgskolen i Innlandet. She is also part of the Swedish-Norwegian collaboration project SKANDULV. Photo: Kristoffer Nordli – The goal is not to get as close as possible to the wolves, but to pass the place where it is located at a distance of 50 metres, says project manager Ane Eriksen, who is an associate professor at Høgskolen i Innlandet. So far, 21 such attempts have been made in the wolf zone on the Norwegian side and across the border to Sweden. The fact that several of the leader wolves are equipped with collars with GPS transmitters makes it possible to find animals that are lying down and resting. Collars placed on several of the wolves make it possible to map their behavior when people approach on foot. Photo: SNO Data from the collars means that the researchers can also study what the wolves do when people approach or pass. Curious, but not aggressive None of the wolves have gone towards the test subject or subjects. – In most cases, they decide to withdraw. In some cases, it has remained silent, says Eriksen. – The wolves have shown signs of curiosity by examining the track after the test person has passed, but they have never approached the person, says the wolf researcher. The shortest distance between a wolf and a person that has been recorded has been just under 40 metres. On average, the wolf retreated when the test subject was 132 meters away. The test subjects have neither seen nor heard the predators, says the researcher. A recipe has been created for the test subjects to follow if they were to encounter a wolf during the experiment: First, they must stop If the wolf shows no signs of retreating after one minute, the subject must count out loud to 10. And if that doesn’t help, wave along arms and shout loudly Then the order is to retreat. Photo: news Skepticism about the value of the study The aim of the study is to make people who live in areas with wolves safer. Do you think wolves can attack people in Norwegian forests? No, the wolf is afraid of people Yes, it can happen Show result When news told about the experiments in 2019, they were met with some skepticism in the wolf municipality of Aurskog-Høland. The mayor at the time, Roger Evjen (Ap), thought it was doubtful that the fear of the predator would disappear with new knowledge. – Part of the concern is what can happen to small children on the way to school. It is particularly the wolves lurking close to the settlements that cause the greatest fear and not the packs deep in the forest, the mayor said then. Wolves wandering into the settlement are a terror for some. Photo: Privat Eriksen says that for various reasons it has not been appropriate to use children in the experiments. But she says that over time it may become possible to see if the wolves react differently to men and women, or to people of different sizes. She understands that some people think that the wolf can be dangerous. – It is not idiotic to want to be careful. Wild animals are wild animals, whether we’re talking about moose or wolves, she says. The risk of being attacked by wolves in Norway is statistically unbelievably small. At the same time, it is not possible to prove that the wolf will never attack. Eriksen believes that experiments like this will only show what is the wolf’s usual and probable behaviour. Going with a dog That the wolf can see dogs as rivals and kill stray dogs that come into their territory is a well-known fact. What kind of role it might have for the wolf’s behavior if walkers come with a dog on a leash is also something that needs more research. – Many people who live in wolf dens wonder if it is safe to walk the dog, or if you are more exposed then, and it is good to get more information about that, says the researcher. Photo: Privat Saw wolves in Germany The Norwegian study has been copied and tested in Germany. There, an observer saw a wolf during one of the experiments, but the distance was great, 100 metres. Ane Eriksen hopes researchers in southern Europe will also connect. – It is interesting to see where the wolf lives in more densely populated areas if it becomes less cloudy, she concludes.
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Has researched encounters between wolves and humans – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
