It can be controversial to try and save and reintroduce wolf population. These programs can be costly and ranchers and farmers often fear the possible impact on their livestock. Programs offering compensation for losses wolf-induced have been developed to address this concern.
What if the benefits to wolf conservation or reintroduction are more than we think? What if these programs produce economic benefits that outweigh their costs?
Recently, I came across a paper written by Dominic P. Parker, Corbett A. Grainger and Jennifer L. Raynor claiming that wolf reintroduciton programmes can generate sub-tnatial economic benefit by making roads safer. Here’s the abstract
Recent studies have shown cascading ecological impacts from removing or reintroducing predators to a landscape. But little is known about the effects on humans and their property. We quantify the effects of restoring wolf populations by evaluating their influence on deer–vehicle collisions (DVCs) in Wisconsin. Our results show that wolf entry has a 24% reduction in DVCs for an average county. This is an economic benefit.
