Mémoire
Résumé : The Iberian wolf population reached its minimum population size in recent times around the mid-twenty century. Afterwards, the population have recovered in the last decades. Perceptions and attitudes towards wolves, and the management of the species, are considered fundamental factors for an effective conservation of the species. Opposing interests among stakeholders are one of the biggest obstacles we encounter when dealing with conflicts associated with the presence of wolves in human dominated landscapes, and finding common grounds around the management of the species is challenging. This study aims to make an analysis on the views of different stakeholders on the current management of wolves in Spain, agreements and disagreements. For this purpose, a participatory process was carried out through a Delphi technique. A total of 99 individuals participated, including 27 livestock owners (65% of them had suffered wolf attacks), 21 hunters, 15 scientists, 19 government officials and 17 NGOs officials. As expected, our study reveals discrepancies about different conflicts surrounding wolves within the groups, as well as the capacity of these to reach some consensus around conflict mitigation issues. Still, issues related to the lethal control of wolves are the most conflictive ones and consensus is unlikely to be reached due to the polarisation of views revealed by some groups. We propose, as a first step, that current conflict management approaches should focus on those areas that show overall support, including the improvement of those measures that are not being effective, such as the compensation system, improving the conditions for extensive livestock farming and promoting and financing the use of preventive measures. These measures have the potential to mitigate the current stage of social tension, consequently having a positive impact on human-wolf coexistence.

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