Plans to bring wolves back to the Scottish Highlands are "getting closer by the month" despite the fears of local farmers.
Paul Lister, owner of the Alladale Wilderness Reserve located 1.5 hour's drive north of Inverness, wants to release a pack of wolves into a fenced-in area of around 50,000 acres.
However, despite the wolf being an apex predator - at the top of the food chain with no predators itself - with a fearsome reputation, he isn't worried about what his neighbours think:
"I'm not really concerned about what people's emotions are.
"One has to have a vision. One has to act it out, and then see what happens in the end. People see wolves as straight out of little red riding hood books. It's a joke," he said.
Mr Lister acquired Alladale in 2003 and began rewilding the landscape by restoring native plant and animal species. A population of red squirrels was introduced in 2013, for example, while - according to the reserve's website - over 800,000 Scots pine have been planted in the past 10 years.
According to Mr Lister, the main reason for releasing wolves - and indeed his activities at Alladale more generally - is his desire to run the landscape without turning to field-sports.
He said: "I don't think that just because I own a piece of land in the Scottish Highlands that I should go about salmon-fishing, grouse-shooting and deer-stalking like we've been doing for over 150 years.
"I think it's about time we changed, and I think they're activities for an absolute minority."
He is adamant the release of wolves would not be a stepping-stone to a full-scale reintroduction, with the idea being to sterilise the females after the initial pack of four or five animals has been allowed to breed once.
He said: "I'm not releasing wolves into the freedom of the countryside. That I think is impractical and not possible, due to way too many people, livestock, roads, infrastructure, and density of population. So I'm into a South African style game reserve."
Despite these convictions being backed up by the three metre-high electric fence which would go up, local farmers expressed doubt about Mr Lister's ability to contain the wolves.
Snow drifts in particular were a concern, with Isobel Maing, whose brother Gregory owns Wester Fearn Farm in nearby Ardgay, saying: "Given the winter we've just had - we've had about eight feet of snow - any wolf could get over any fence he builds."
She added that any trees would also need to be positioned a very good distance away from the fence, otherwise they could blow over in a storm and knock portions of it down.
Reay Campbell, who owns Balblair Farm about 15 miles east of Alladale with her husband Peter, said: "a nine foot fence in a ten foot snowdrift is no fence at all. All you need is a fall of snow and wind.
She added: "There's been no discussion in my understanding with the local community. The people who live here and have to live with the consequences are the people who should be asked.
"I think the idea is insane."
According to Mr Lister, in addition to the electric fence in place, the wolves will be satellite tracked and closely monitored, so he is not worried about an escape.
He said: "There'll be ecologists studying these animals day and night - studying their movements, understanding why they're in a certain area, what they're eating, what size animals they're taking down.
"If they did get out, and they ate a sheep, and someone told me they ate a sheep, I'd give them the money for the sheep - I don't care," he added.
Despite Mr Lister claiming that the project could be up and running in the "next two or three years," Lesley Frost, who owns Gruinards Farm, said: "As far as the local people go, we're of the opinion that it's been turned down."
Ms Frost recently had 12 of her sheep killed by a dog, but initially contacted the police to see if Mr Lister had implemented his plans - thinking that a wolf may have been behind the attack.
"You can't pen in a wild animal. You'd only need one to get out and they'd start breeding outside the pens," she said.
Dr Christopher Sandom, a lecturer in Biology at the University of Sussex who spent five years working at the Alladale reserve from 2005, accepted that Mr Lister's project would produce "winners and losers," and felt that discussions needed to be had before it could go ahead.
"There are going to be difficulties that need to be overcome, so it needs to be done in the right way - engaging people as much as possible, and seeing what can be achieved," he said.
The threat the animals would pose to livestock was not, in his opinion, something which should completely derail the project, and he suggested the impact on farmers could be minimised via measures such as spending more money on protecting livestock, or providing compensation for the loss of sheep.
He said: "I think with any fence it's very likely that some wolves would escape some of the time.
"I think it's an issue, and it's a problem that needs to be taken very seriously and to be addressed, but just saying wolves kill livestock under certain scenarios is not an argument for saying there should never be any predators.
"Otherwise I think the argument then is should we eradicate all predators where they're likely to kill livestock? And that is almost everywhere."
However Mrs Campbell, of Balblair farm, said: "The fact remains that people can't live alongside wolves.
"They've caused devastation in Europe, and we haven't got them yet. Thank heavens.
"I will fight this tooth and nail."
