(ORDO NEWS) — It’s been over 150 years since the last wild wolf was shot in the Netherlands, and this year the government has again allowed shooting these predators…with one caveat.
Wild wolves returned to the Netherlands only in 2015, more than a century and a half after the last of their relatives was seen in the country.
Although hunting for wolves is officially banned in Western Europe, many Dutch people are not too happy about the return of this dangerous predator, which poses a threat not only to wild boars and deer.
And they have reason to think so: in September of this year alone, more than three dozen domestic animals died from wolf teeth, and one farmer lost eight sheep in one night.
Considering that the wolf population in the Netherlands is gradually increasing (at least 16 wolf cubs were born this year ), one way to keep them from attacking domestic animals is to teach them to be afraid of a person and bypass his settlements in a wide arc.
Moreover, this problem is relevant not only for provinces with developed agriculture, but also for the De Hoge Veluwe National Park, where a young wolf appeared not so long ago, repeatedly approaching visitors.
His behavior looks harmless, but do not forget that this is a wild animal that can not only unexpectedly attack people, but also, for example, feast on the remnants of their food and choke on a plastic wrapper.
Government of the province of Gherderland , where the national park is located, has already issued permission for law enforcement to shoot at a protected animal.
True, with one caveat: they will not shoot with bullets, but with paintball balls , which will scare the wolf, but will not cause him serious harm.
Now the wolf will have to give up approaching people so as not to get a ball of paint on the side, and pay attention to the food sources familiar to its species – wild ungulates.
Perhaps if the Dutch wolves (of which there are now four packs and 11 singles) remain within the protected parks, farmers will come to terms with their presence in the country, and then people and wild predators, as before, will be able to coexist peacefully on the same territory.
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