The Wolf in Scotland: Extinction, Legend and the Reintroduction Debate

Each major claim carries one of three labels. established means supported by primary records, official bodies or several independent reliable sources. shared means the core fact is sound but sources disagree on details, dates or interpretation. traditional means widely repeated but not traceable to a primary or independent source.

Records of wolves in Scotland are patchy and many "last wolf" stories were written down long after the events they describe, often by romantic nineteenth-century writers. This card treats all specific "last wolf" claims as unproven.

Wolves in medieval Scotland

established Grey wolves arrived in Scotland after the Ice Age and were widespread through the Middle Ages, especially in forested and remote areas. They preyed on deer and, increasingly as farming spread, on sheep and cattle. Medieval Scots saw them as a serious threat, and the wolf appears in place names, such as those incorporating the Gaelic madadh-allaidh, "wild dog", and in folklore.

Hunting them down

established Scottish kings tried to exterminate the wolf. An Act of Parliament under James I in 1427 required barons to hunt wolves several times a year, and later legislation encouraged the killing of cubs. Bounties were offered for each wolf killed. At the same time, the steady clearance of forests for farming, grazing and fuel removed the wolf's cover and prey. Some refuges, such as remote parts of Sutherland and Lochaber, held out longest.

The last wolf

shared Wolves were probably extinct in Scotland by the early eighteenth century, though the exact date is unknown. Several places claim the "last wolf", with dates from the 1680s, when Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel is said to have killed one in Lochaber, to the 1740s. None of these claims can be verified, and some wolves may have survived in remote areas a little longer than written records show.

shared Not every authority puts the end so early. The Handbook of British Mammals (3rd edn, 1991), the Mammal Society's standard reference, gives two closely matching dates. Juliet Clutton-Brock's appendix on extinct species, drawing on J. E. Harting's 1880 survey, says wolves survived in England until 1500, in Scotland until 1740 and in Ireland until about 1770. Derek Yalden's chapter on the history of the fauna says contemporary accounts attest to extinction in Scotland around 1743 and in Ireland around 1786. These figures sit close to the date of the MacQueen story and probably draw on the same late traditions, so they do not prove a wolf was killed in the 1740s. They do show that a mid-eighteenth-century end was accepted by specialists in 1991, and that "early eighteenth century" should be read as a cautious estimate rather than a settled fact.

established Yalden also notes why the wolf went: its survival into historic times is attested by documents, place names and archaeology, and direct persecution and habitat change played roughly equal parts in its extinction, with protection of livestock an obvious motive. Wolves outlasted the brown bear, which seems to have been gone by Norman times, by more than six centuries.

traditional The most famous story is that of MacQueen of Pall a' Chrocain, a famous deer stalker. In 1743, so the story goes, a huge black wolf killed two children crossing the hills from Cawdor. The Laird of Mackintosh called a hunt; MacQueen arrived late, and when mocked, produced the wolf's severed head from beneath his plaid, explaining that he had killed it with the help of his dog. The laird rewarded him with land. The story was written down long after the event and is regarded by historians as legend rather than history.

Should wolves return?

shared In recent years conservationists have argued for reintroducing wolves to Scotland, pointing to the success of wolf recovery in mainland Europe and of the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the United States, where they helped control elk numbers. In Scotland, very high red deer numbers prevent forest regeneration, and supporters argue that wolves could help. Some private estates have proposed fenced wolf reserves.

shared Opponents, including farming organisations, argue that Scotland's open hill country is full of sheep, that wolves would kill livestock, and that the human and economic costs would be high. Scotland has no plans to reintroduce wolves, and the debate continues alongside reintroductions of less controversial species such as the beaver and the lynx proposals.

• A 1427 Act required Scottish barons to hunt wolves several times a year.
• The Gaelic for wolf, madadh-allaidh, means "wild dog".
• Several places in Scotland claim to have killed "the last wolf".
• The famous 1743 MacQueen story is probably legend.
• Wolves have returned naturally to much of mainland Europe.
• Wolves survived in Scotland for about two and a half centuries after they vanished from England.
• Ireland was the last part of the British Isles to lose its wolves, around 1770 to 1786.
• A Mesolithic wolf skull from Star Carr in Yorkshire was found with the skull of a domestic dog.

• Myth: MacQueen of Pall a' Chrocain killed the last wolf in Scotland in 1743. The story was written down long after the event, and historians regard it as legend. No "last wolf" claim can be verified.
• Disputed: When wolves became extinct in Scotland. Claims run from the 1680s to the 1740s. The 1991 Handbook of British Mammals gives both about 1740 and about 1743, while more cautious writers prefer "early eighteenth century". Some wolves may have survived in remote areas longer than the records show.
• Myth: Reintroducing wolves is government policy. Campaigners propose it, but Scotland has no plans to reintroduce wolves, and farmers oppose it.