Protecting wolves in anthropocentric landscapes: some reflections on the entanglement of wolves, humans, and laws

As an important factor in the return of the wolves across the continent, the legal protection of wolves in Europe has often been heralded as a success. The reappearance of wolves in landscapes from which they have been extinct for a long time has however resulted in new challenges for this legal protection. As the populations have increased, so have the conflicts with, as well as between, humans. By picturing the legal protection of wolves as co-produced by wolves, humans, laws, and other bodies in the landscape, this article shows how aversions towards wolves merge with larger political discourses that creep up on the wolves in the laws as well as in the forests. As discussed in this article, it is not always certain that stricter laws lead to stronger protection of the wolves. Having situated the laws within the landscapes where they are supposed to function, the paper concludes by discussing some challenges this poses for animal law and visions of a post-anthropocentric legal system in general. The article focuses specifically on the wolf conflicts in Sweden and its neighboring countries. The analysis of these local conflicts might serve as an example of the complexities inherent in these kinds of conflicts concerning large carnivores in general.