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).

Peer-review for Humanimalia

This Spring I peer-reviewed an article for the academic journal Humanimalia – a journal of human/animal interface studies.

"Is a wolf wild..." article cited in van Dooren article on crows

My article

Tønnessen, Morten 2010. Is a Wolf wild as Long as it Does Not Know that It Is Being Thoroughly Handled? Humanimalia – a journal of human/animal interface studies 2(1) (Fall 2010): 1–8. 

is cited in

van Dooren, Thom 2015. Authentic Crows: Identity, Captivity and Emergent Forms of Life [Tønnessen 2010j]. Theory, Culture & Society. Published online March 12th 2015 (DOI: 10.1177/0263276415571941).

Excerpt (p. 10-11; footnote 20):

Species and individual organisms always become with others – including human others – within diverse fields of freedom and constraint (indeed, what counts as freedom for whom is part of what is produced in these entangled co-becomings).20 

20. For example, ‘canine freedom’ is not everywhere the same. Freedom for a ‘wild’ wolf is very different to the kinds of freedoms that make life good for a ‘domesticated’ dog – although, perhaps, not as different as we might at first assume (Tønnessen, 2010).

Wolf piece published today - chronicle around the corner

My letter to the editor "Ulv, ulv!" [Wolf! Wolf!] was published today in the Norwegian national daily Aftenposten, in response to the daily's frontpage story this Monday. A full-text version of the text appears in my Norwegian-language blog Utopisk Realisme.

What's more, yesterday I finished my invited chronicle "Hvem er villest i landet her? - Et ulveliv" [Who's the wildest in the country here? - A wolf's life] for the weekly news magazine Ny Tid. This is the most thourough account I've given on wolf management so far in Norwegian. The chronicle, which is in part based on my article in Humanimalia, will appear this Friday.

Contents:
* Intro
* Ulvetider [Wolf times]
* Sky, men skutt [Shy, but shot]
* Menneskelige gjenstander i ulvens verden [Human artifacts in the wolf's world]
* Ulven og dens følgesvenner [The wolf and its /companions/]
* Om rovviltforvaltningens fremtid [On the future of wildlife/carnivore management]

PDF, and bibliographical reference, for "Is a wolf..."

September 16th I posted that Humanimalia vol. 2, no. 1 was published. At that point no PDFs were on site. Now, however, they are - including for my contribution "Is a wolf wild as long as it does not know it is being thoroughly managed?" (which has been given the short-title "Is a wolf wild as long as it does not know it is managed?").

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Bibliographical reference:

Morten Tønnessen 2010. "Is a wolf wild as long as it does not know it is being thoroughly managed?" Humanimalia - a journal of human/animal interface studies 2(1): 1-8.

"Is a wolf..." published in Humanimalia

My article "Is a wolf wild as long as it does not know that it is being thoroughly handled?" has been published today in the American online journal Humanimalia, published at DePauw University. Issue 3 (volume 2, number 1 - Fall 2010) includes two further Nordic contributions (book reviews by Helena Pedersen - Malmö - and Tora Holmberg, Uppsala).

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Abstract:

The topic of wildness is a matter of ongoing debate in the wildlife management community. In this essay it is related to questions of shyness and actual human interference (especially on the management side). The well-documented case of the Scandinavian wolf population suggests that shyness is not a sufficient criterion for wildness. For all the wolf knows, it is still a wild animal – and it still behaves like one. But are we justified in claiming that a (more or less) free-ranging wolf is truly wild, simply because it does not know that it is being thoroughly managed? The article introduces this theme and the case at hand, covering wolf mortality, human artifacts in the life-world of wolves, and captures. The long-term goal of wildlife conservation, the author proposes, should be to restore the independent viability of wildlife. Wildness, in short, has to go beyond appearances. In a closing note, Arne Næss’ philosophy of wolf policies is critically evaluated.

"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.

New wolf essay

I have recently finished an article entitled "Is a wolf wild as long as it does not know that it is being thoroughly man-handled?". The essay has been submitted to Humanimalia.

Abstract: The animals of the recovering Scandinavian wolf population are evidently shy, but thoroughly man-handled, by wildlife managers as well as illegal hunters and others. After much wilderness has vanished, the current wolf population dwells in a so-called multi-use environment. Their interaction with human artefacts and constructions is substantial. The author argues that the long-term conservation goal should be not simply viability, but independent viability - i.e., viability independent of the continued actions of humans.