How to become an unwanted alien

• In Event: Complicated relationships: Wildlife management, protection, and control

Abstract

The white-tailed deer was introduced to Finland in 1930s from the US to enrich country’s game animals. Since the late 20th century, the deer has become a contested species. Many wish to diminish or even eradicate its population, while hunters ferociously oppose all these demands. This paper examines the changing attitudes towards the wild-tailed deer in Finland. The paper concludes by analyzing the new moralities in wildlife management in the postmodern society. In the wildlife management of the early 20th century, it was scientists and governmental wildlife officials who defined the value of animals from the basis of utilitarian evaluation of how animals fitted into economic activities. Today, it is increasingly the ordinary public, mainly urbanized middle class, who gets to decide the worth of an animal depending on how animals intrude into their daily lives.

Author

• Tuomas Räsänen, University of Eastern Finland