The Coexistence of Wolves and People in Grasslands of Central Asia.

Asian Grassland Conference, 19 - 21 Nisan 2022, ss.21

Grey wolves (Canis lupus) have been suggested as a model for

understanding early humans. Therefore, a better understanding

of how human-wolf interaction evolved in different parts of the

world may lead to a better understanding of the minds of our

ancestors, and so ourselves. But why did some societies exterminate

wolves while others have managed to coexist with wolves?

According to the dominant view, from prehistoric times to today,

communities that were vulnerable to wolf depredation grew to

hate wolves. However, in and around Central Asian grasslands,

communities have been always vulnerable to wolf depredation

throughout the history. Nevertheless, people have managed to

coexist with wolves to a large extent. Today, Central Asian grasslands

and surrounding regions host about one third of the global

wolf population. From a historical perspective, are perceptions of

people living in and around the grasslands in Central Asia more

positive towards wolves than those of people living in the grasslands

(prairies) of North America? I will tackle this question by

using the evidence in the peer-reviewed literature spanning across

several academic disciplines: wildlife ecology, human geography,

social anthropology, linguistics, psychology and neuroscience.

Here, by focusing on human-wolf interaction in selected grasslands

of Asia (encompassing Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia,

Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), I show that the

dominant view on human-wolf interaction is oversimplified, the

reality is complex, and the “communities that were vulnerable to

wolf depredation grew to hate wolves” hypothesis does not explain

the hatred for wolves that has been persistent in some societies

throughout the history. Better understanding of human-wolf

interaction in Central Asian grasslands may enable us to develop

better conservation initiatives for the region. In fact, a key to effective

wildlife management and conservation across the globe may

lie somewhere in the grasslands of Central Asia.