Review: The Last Wolf by Jim Crumley

The Last Wolf
by Jim Crumley
Published by Birlinn
Paperback (purchased)
Non-fiction, natural history

In The Last Wolf, Jim Crumley explores the place of the wolf in Scotland - past, present and future - and challenges many of the myths that have been regarded for centuries as biological fact. Bringing to bear a lifetime's immersion in his native landscape and more than twenty years as a professional nature writer, Crumley questions much of the written evidence on the plight of the wolf in light of contemporary knowledge and considers the wolf in today's world, an examination that ranges from Highland Scotland to Devon and from Yellowstone in North America to Norway and Italy, as he pursues a more considered portrait of the animal than the history books have previously offered.

Within the narrative, Crumley also examines the extraordinary phenomenon of wolf reintroductions, physically transforming the landscapes in which they live that even the very colours of the land change under the influence of teeming grasses, flowers, trees, butterflies, birds, and mammals that flourish in their company. Crumley makes the case for their reintroduction into Scotland with all the passion and poetic fervour that has become the hallmark of his writing over the years. This is an elegant, erudite and imaginative account that readdresses the place of the wolf in modern Scotland.

"There can be no reliable history of the wolf. Histories, after all, are only ever written by people, and there is no species less qualified and less entitled than yours and mine to write that particular history."

Jim Crumley has a very valuable point here. The Last Wolf is gorgeous natural history of the wolves in Scotland; extinct since the eighteenth century because of humans, and reintroduction programs not going anywhere because as Crumley argued, the wolf has been painted as the enemy, the demon, since the Middle Ages. Still, Scotland's ecosystem needs wolves, because they are the top predator (which, not counting humans, Scotland's wilderness doesn't really have) to keep the red deer numbers down. And it is proven that the large herds of the red deer are not good for the ecosystem because they cause erosion. Crumley goes through all this and gives examples of Yellowstones and Norway's wolf reintroduction programs, which have been successful. As Crumley argues, Scotland's wilderness needs free, wild wolves.

I haven't really delved into natural history before, despite my keen interest in wild animals such as wolves and foxes. After reading The Last Wolf, I'm more than interested in reading some of Crumley's other books and delving into the world of natural history books more. Crumley's writing is very poetic yet simple; it's a pleasure to read. He knows how to paint a picture of the Highlands - especially Rannoch Moor - in a way that just won't leave reader alone. It's almost haunting picture of wilderness and its dwellers. Absolutely beautiful and stunning, and with such interesting topic as the history of wolf in Scotland, especially since it the presence/absence of wolves is something that has been debated over decades.

The Last Wolf is important book, and it'll without a doubt stay with me for a long time. It's one of those influential books that just make readers think, especially with such a good argumentation as Crumley presented. I do highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in the topic. 

5 of 5 stars

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