Wolves now protected animals

The wolf carcass that was found in Luttelgeest last year may not have been of an animal that roamed the Netherlands, but wolves are nonetheless still getting protected status here. Sharon Dijksma, State Secretary of Economic Affairs announced this today. She said that this will also enable the Fauna Fund to pay compensation to people who may suffer damage done by wolves. The decision is based on an advice Alterra (Wageningen UR) gave to the Second Chamber in light of reports that wolves are finding their way back to the Netherlands from Germany after an absence of more than 100 years. The new measure does not automatically mean that the Netherlands will institute "active protective activities" for wolves, but, said Dijksma, it does help in case a "wandering individual wolf reaches the Netherlands." Many were startled in July last year when a carcass of a wolf was found alongside a road in Noordoostpolder; medical research showed later that the animal had not actually walked to the Netherlands. The she-wolf had probably come from the Carpathian Mountains and its carcass that was probably dropped purposely on the roadside showed bullet wounds.