Tourists attacked by the dogs brought in to save sheep from wolves

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Title – Tourists attacked by the dogs brought in to save sheep from wolves
Source – The Times
Date – 4th August 2008

We do have a tendency in the ‘developed world’ to be very patronising towards conservation efforts in other countries; we tend to blame them for the destruction of rainforest, habitats of rare endangered species and for not considering the impact on global warming. How short-sighted are the Indians for not protecting the tiger, the Africans for wanting to cull elephant, the South Americans for cutting down swaths of rainforest to grow crops or the Chinese for polluting their way to global domination.

What we tend to forget is that we did just that when we ‘developed’ our country. Look at the UK or much of Europe now and it bares little or no resemblance to its natural state. Most of the A1 predators are gone or so rare they have to be artificially sustained, our beautiful countryside is primarily the result of farming and can we really preach at the Chinese about pollution after our own industrial revolution? Not to mention how much we pollute to this day; look at the pollution generated per person in the UK and China and they look veritably ‘green’ by comparison.

This story demonstrates this clearly to me. Wolves are making a comeback in the Alps, much like some other A1 predators are in the rest of the world because of successful conservation projects. But when a village in Indonesia kills a tiger out of ‘self-defence’ or to defend their livestock we are appalled. We should be looking closer to home; the fuss being made about the reintroduction of beavers to Scotland or wolves in the Alps should make us think twice about criticising others.

For travellers they too should be aware that dangers with local wildlife exist not just in faraway places, but also much closer to home. If the wolves themselves are not yet a serious threat to humans, there is a real possibility that the day will come when their paths cross, but before that time there is the distinct possibility that the dogs we have ‘reintroduced’ to protect livestock against the wolves will turn on unfamiliar humans. Much like many of the fighting dogs we see in the UK that sadly regularly maim and kill because owners are either incapable or irresponsible in looking after them, the Pyrenean mountain dog was not bred as a pet, it was bred as a defender and can not be held to account for what we have done to make it such.

Having written all this, don’t think for a second that I don’t think we should do everything in our power to protect the tiger, the elephant or the rainforest and that we shouldn’t put great pressure on not just China but everyone to reduce carbon emissions; but remember we started many of these processes and we changed our environment beyond recognition and beyond return to ensure our own standard of living and prosperity, so we should try and help others learn from our mistakes not chastise them for following our lead.

Our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety and Awareness workshop looks at ways of reducing the impact we have on our environment and on the people and cultures of the countries we visit. We also examine how to travel more safely including ways of reducing the risks from the environments and fauna and flora of those countries we visit; be they wild or ‘domesticated’. These dangers are often hidden and for inexperienced travellers much of the danger is in the false belief that what is the norm at home is also the norm in the countries we visit, near and far. Many dogs in the UK are friendly and approachable; the Patou in the alps should not be confused with a domestic dog walking in the English countryside.

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