Tooth & Claw, living alongside Britain’s predators
Tooth & Claw – living alongside Britain’s predators is no ordinary project about wildlife. It explores our gut feelings towards predators and exposes our prejudices. It asks difficult questions of us all. We spoke to one of the project’s authors, Peter Cairns to get the low down on this widely-acclaimed initiative.
So, what’s Tooth & Claw all about in a nutshell?
T&C explores our modern day attitudes towards predators and what these reveal about our increasingly distorted perception of our relationship with nature as a whole.
What do you see as the principal objective/s of the project?
I guess T&C is primarily a discussion document. We’ve taken an impartial stance, taken views from many different people with varied perceptions based on a wide range of influences. I hope that the project encourages people to look themselves in the mirror and question their own prejudices and inconsistencies. We hope to encourage more fact-based dialogue about predator management for sure but we also want our audience to have a better understanding of the role of natural processes in our lives.
Why do you see this project as important? / Why are you passionate about it?
We live in a disparate society with many single-interest groups all competing for control of rural policy. Whether it’s fox hunting, bird of prey persecution or the reintroduction of wolves, everyone has an opinion. Very often that opinion is based on a range of factors far removed from the animal itself – politics, culture, myth, sentiment – these are all factors which influence our opinions on those species which kill others to survive. Tooth & Claw sets out to convey factual information in an accessible format, which will entertain as well as educate.
What role do you think projects such as Tooth & Claw play in modern society?
Our lives have changed radically in recent decades, we’re becoming far more of a material and urban society and many of us see no relevance in nature and therefore no value. It may not be cool to admit it but we all need nature and the life-supporting systems it provides – predator/prey processes included. Unless a far greater proportion of society understands and accepts this, we’re all likely to get bitten on the backside – maybe not in my lifetime but sooner or later!
How would you like Tooth & Claw to develop in the next 5 years?
I think the concept is one that a wide audience can buy into but perhaps to some audiences, Tooth & Claw is a little too edgy! It’s not a Garden of Eden out there and wildlife management is about people’s perceptions. I’d like to see this more widely acknowledged and projects like Tooth & Claw given more assistance in reaching a wide, mainstream audience.
What will be the lasting legacy of Tooth & Claw?
Already we’re in discussion about establishing a permanent exhibition and research centre in the Scottish Highlands. There is no reason (apart from funding) why this shouldn’t become a world-class facility at the forefront of human-predator conflict resolution.
This aside, it would just be great for people with different views to sit down and discuss these issues accepting that whilst they might not fully agree on everything, there is often more common ground than initially perceived. It doesn’t have to be a war folks!
