Interview on symbolicity of wolves released in Krimpodden podcast episode

Today an interview with me on the symbolicity of wolves (and sheep) has been released as part of an episode of the Norwegian podcast Krimpodden, which is published by VG, Norway´s largest newspaper by number of readers. The episode is titled «Ulvejakta 1:2» (The wolf hunt 1: 2); subscription is required to access it. The interview was done by journalist and program host Tor-Erling Thømt Ruud.

Interview on wolf hunting on NRK

I have been interviewed by NRK, the Norwegian public broadcaster, in their online news story "Er ulvejakt moralsk riktig? Vi spurte filosofene" (Is wolf hunting morally right? We asked the philosophers), along with Erica von Essen.

PhD defense - Erica von Essen, Uppsala

Today I have been in Uppsala, Sweden, as part of the three-person Examination Board (evaluation committee) for Erica von Essen´s doctoral thesis "In the Gap between Legality and Legitimacy - Illegal Hunting in Sweden as a Crime of Dissent". We unanimously approved Erica´s PhD. She has taken her PhD, in the field of environmental communication, at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, at Department of Urban and Rural Development.

William Smith was opponent, and in the Examination Board I was joined by Stellan Vinthagen (chosen as chair) and Mari Pohjs-Mykrä. Hans Peter Hansen, assistant supervisor, served as our host. Some 50 people attended the doctors defence.

Wolves and sheep paper accepted for publication in PJHS

I have been informed by the editors of the Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies (Indiana University Press) that my contribution "A brief history of the cultural semiotic of wolves and sheep" has been accepted for publication, with minor revisions required.

"Wolf land" article referred to in "Habitat Model for a Recolonizing Wolf (Canis lupus) population in Finland"

My article

Tønnessen, Morten 2010. Wolf Land. Biosemiotics 3.3: 289–297 (online version, published April 23, 2010: DOI: 10.1007/s12304-010-9077-x).

is cited in 

Kaartinen, Salla, Harri Antikainen and Ilpo Kojola (2015). Habitat Model for a Recolonizing Wolf (Canis lupus) population in Finland. Annales Zoologici Fennici 52: 77–89.

Excerpt (pp. 77-78):

In Fennoscandinavia, the primary reason for the presently small number of wolves is presumably wolf-human conflicts, including wolf predation on semi domesticated reindeer herds in Northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland and sheep flocks especially in Norway, as well as wolf attacks on dogs, a problem that concerns all Nordic countries (Kojola & Kuittinen 2002, [...] Tønnesen 2010).

Interviewed by Sweden´s science radio

Yesterday, attending Vargsymposiet [The wolf symposium], I was interviewed by Sweden´s Vetenskapsradion [science radio], along with Katarina Cvek (Djurförsöksetiska nämnden Uppsala, SLU). Vetenskapsradion is part of Sveriges Radio, the Swedish public radio. The topic we discussed was first and foremost (the ethics of) GPS-tagging of wolves.

Panel discussion on ethics of wolf research and management attended

Yesterday, at Vargsymposiet [The wolf symposium], I participated in a panel discussion on ethics in wolf research and management, along with Katarina Cvek (Djurförsöksetiska nämnden Uppsala, SLU), Olof Liberg (SKANDULV) and the chair Sverre Sjölander. The panel discussion lasted for an hour.

Large predator chapter approved

My chapter "The semiotics of predation and the Umwelten of large predators" has been approved and sent to language editing.

See also:

Chapter "The semiotics of predation and the Umwelten of large predators" revised

Reykjavik paper on Norwegian wolf field work accepted

Today I´ve been informed that our panel “Phenomenological Approaches to the Anthropological Difference”, convened by Cristian Ciocan, has been accepted. This implies that my paper "Synchronicity in human perception of animals" has been accepted for presentation at the 14th annual conference of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology: “Phenomenology and Beyond” (Reykjavik, Iceland 21‐23 April, 2016).

See also:

Abstract for NoSP 2016: "Synchronicity in human perception of animals"

Preliminary program for The Wolf Symposium distributed; two scheduled events March 8th

Today a preliminary program for The Wolf Symposium 2016, to be held in Vålådalen, Sweden, has been distributed by email. Exact times for program posts are not included, but have been communicated to those on the program.

My talk "Marked for life – Ethical questions concerning management of and research on wolves" (to be held in Norwegian, with Powerpoint in English) is scheduled for the afternoon of March 8th, probably at 14.15-15.00.

The panel discussion on ethics in research and management is preliminarily scheduled for March 8th at 16.15-17.00 or so. In addition to me and Katarina Cvek, Maria Hörnell Willebrand and the chair Sverre Sjölander (see previous post linked to below), it is now communicated that it will feature Olof Liberg (representing SKANDULV and Grimsö Wildlife Research Station).

See also:

Discussion on ethics in research and management scheduled for The wolf symposium (Sweden, March 2016)

"Wolf land" article referred to in NINA overview report

My 2010 article "Wolf land" is referred to in a recent report from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) which gives an overview of status for knowledge on management of large predators in Norway. The reference is made in attachment 1, which lists "Scientific publications".

References:

Linnell, John D.C. & Torkild Tveraa (eds) 2015. Kunnskapsstatus og kunnskapsbehov for forvaltning av rovvilt i Norge. NINA report no. 1195. Trondheim: NINA.

Tønnessen, Morten 2010. Wolf Land. Biosemiotics 3.3: 289–297 (online version, published April 23, 2010: DOI: 10.1007/s12304-010-9077-x).

Updated presenter page at The wolf symposium 2016

The page presenting me as a presenter (sic) at Vargsymposiet [The wolf symposium] 2016 has been updated with abstract for my talk and a few more links.

Discussion on ethics in research and management scheduled for The wolf symposium (Sweden, March 2016)

As a follow-up to my talk "Merket for livet – Etiske spørsmål knyttet til forvaltning av og forskning på ulv" [Marked for life – Ethical questions concerning management of and research on wolves] at Vargsymposiet [The wolf symposium] 2016 in Vålådalen, Sweden, a discussion session has been scheduled. The discussion session is entitled "Etik i forskning och forvaltning" [Ethics in research and management], and will feature me, Katarina Cvek (Djurförsöksetiska nämnden [Committee for ethics of animal experiments]), Maria Hörnell Willebrand (Naturvårdsverket [Swedish Environmental Protection Agency]) and a wildlife researcher.

Vargsymposium subwebpage updated with "Is a wolf wild..." link

The presentation of me at the webpage of Vargsymposiet 2016 appears to have been updated. It now features a link to my article "Is a wolf wild as long as it does not know that it is being thoroughly managed?" (Humanimalia).

Abstract (Vargsymposiet 2016): "Marked for life – Ethical questions concerning management of and research on wolves"

The Norwegian title of my upcoming presentation at Vargsymposiet 2016 is "Merket for livet – Etiske spørsmål knyttet til forvaltning av og forskning på ulv". The English version of the abstract, finished yesterday, follows below.

Marked for life – Ethical questions concerning management of and research on wolves

Morten Tønnessen (academic blog: Utopian Realism)

Associate professor of philosophy, University of Stavanger

This presentation vil address ethical questions concerning how we treat the wolf. It will hopefully be of relevance for similar discussions about bears, wolverines and lynx as well. To study how we treat the wolf, we must first make a distinction between formal and informal wolf management. By ”formal wolf management”, I mean the official management, for which the authorities are responsible. ”Informal wolf management”, on the other side, refers to the public´s treatment of the wolf, whether it is of legal or illegal character (including illegal hunting).

Such conceptual distinctions make a difference, because our motivation for how we treat the wolf, according to many ethicists, can be seen as decisive for how our actions may be judged. This is a central theme within ethics of conviction. In this presentation I will therefor compare legal and illegal hunting, as well as authority-approved ”taking out” (“removal”) of individual wolves, based on two different ethical perspectives: a consequentialist perspective, where what is decisive is what consequences our actions have for the wolf. And an ethics of conviction perspective, where the motivation behind our actions is emphasised.

In this context, I will also use radio-collared wolves as a central example. In this case as well I will interpret current practices from a consequentialist and ethics of conviction perspective respectively. Here the relevant distinction to be made is not that between formal and informal wolf management, but a distinction between research purposes and management purposes. In what way is the researcher´s motivation different from the manager´s motivation for tagging a wolf and equipping it with a radio-collar? And to what extent can our need for knowledge justify such treatment of wolves? Seen from a consequentialist perspective, with an emphasis on the consequences for the wolves involved, it remains clear that GPS-tagging of wolves, possibly with the use of a helicopter during the chase when tagging is done and at later capture events, can involve a risk of traumas for the marked wolf. An important question is whether such traumas permanently changes the wolf´s relation to humans, and what this does to the wolf (and to the reliability of research data).

A measure of our formal management of wolves is to what extent our attempts to protect the wolf as a species, or population, is based on a willingness to sacrifice individual wolves. A sound wolf ethics must, in my opinion, presuppose that our treatment of wolves is compatible with attributing moral status to the wolf both on a species level and on an individual level. Here, further ethical traditions can be made use of. From a virtue-ethical perspective, our management of wolves should seek to realize good lives for humans as well as for wolves and animals in our care. From a deontological perspective, one often makes reference to the inherent value of living beings. If the wolf, too, has inherent value, then we have a duty to respect its inviolability, on a par with the inviolability of other living beings with inherent value.  

Acknowledgement: This work has been carried out thanks to the support of the research project ”Animals in Changing Environments: Cultural Mediation and Semiotic Analysis” (EEA Norway Grants/Norway Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 under project contract no. EMP151).

Methodology talk scheduled for presentation November 29th

My forthcoming presentation "Plans for field work on predator-prey conflicts in Norway involving video-recorded interviews followed by pico-scale analysis" at Seminar on methodology of ecosemiotics (Tartu, November 28-29) has been scheduled for presentation in the 10.00-12.00 session on Friday November 29th. This session will also feature presentations by Timo Maran, and Riin Magnus and Kadri Tüür, respectively.

To present at Estonian seminar on ecosemiotic methodology

I plan to take part and present at the Seminar on methodology of ecosemiotics which is to be held November 28th-29th in Tartu, Estonia. This will be my first trip to Tartu since last summer.

The title of my presentation will be “Plans for field work on predator-prey conflicts in Norway involving video-recorded interviews followed by pico-scale analysis” (see posts on the Norwegian-Estonian research project "Animals in Changing Environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis").

Article on formal/informal predator management turned down

My invited article "Formell og uformell rovviltforvaltning i Skandinavia, med særlig hensyn til norsk ulveforvaltning" [Formal and informal carnivore management in Scandinavia, with emphasis on Norwegian wolf management] has been turned down in its current version by the Norwegian academic journal Materialisten. They think the text is not available enough, and welcome a revised version. I will now have to figure out whether I want to revise it according to their wishes, or rather submit it elsewhere.

Wolf land online

My article Wolf land has been published online (April 23rd) as part of the special issue of Biosemiotics Semiotics of perception. You'll find it here (full access for subscribers only) - and a free preview here.

Abstract
Wolf land is in the context of the present article to be considered as an ambiguous term referring to “the land of the wolf” from the wolf’s perspective as well as from a human perspective. I start out by presenting the general circumstances of the Scandinavian wolf population, then turn to the Norwegian wolf controversy in particular. The latter half of the article consists of an elucidation of current wolf ecology related to what is here termed wolf land, and a concluding comment to the now controversial notion of wilderness. The final section of this article further includes identification of changing factors in current Scandinavian wolf ecology in terms of its semiotic niche, and ontological niche, respectively.

Keywords Wolf ecology - Wildlife management - Anti-conservationism - Land - Territory - Wilderness

The following articles have also been published online (print version is due in December):

* Merleau-Ponty’s Concept of Nature and the Ontology of Flesh
Ane Faugstad Aarø
* Ecosystems are Made of Semiosic Bonds: Consortia, Umwelten, Biophony and Ecological Codes
Kalevi Kull
* Autocommunication and Perceptual Markers in Landscape: Japanese Examples
Kati Lindström
* Plant as Object within Herbal Landscape: Different Kinds of Perception
Renata Sõukand and Raivo Kalle
* Introduction to the Special Issue Semiotics of Perception Being in the World of the Living—Semiotic Perspectives
Kati Lindström and Morten Tønnessen

"Is a wolf..." revised and ready for publication

I have just revised my article now entitled "Is a wolf wild as long as it does not know that it is being thoroughly handled?", not least by adding a 2pp "Closing note: On Arne Næss' philosophy of wolf policies". The article now refers to his 1974 and 1987 articles on the topic.

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Humanimalia has confirmed that they will publish my article. I am adding the part on Næss in response to a suggestion from their external reviewer - who liked the questions the article poses. He hopes it will spur debate.