Gelderland wants to start shooting wolves that attack livestock this spring

The province of Gelderland's new wolf policy will come into force in April or May, responsible MP Harold Zoet (BBB) on Wednesday said during a debate in the provincial government building. According to the plan, wolves in Gelderland that repeatedly attack well-protected livestock will be allowed to be shot under certain conditions. In addition, from this spring, wolves throughout the province will be able to be chased away with a paintball gun.

In addition, from April, livestock farmers throughout the province will be able to receive money to erect fences to stop the wolves from attacking their livestock, according to Zoet. So far, this subsidy scheme has always been temporarily opened to an area where livestock was attacked. The province wants to make 1 million euros available to finance wolf-proof fencing throughout the province. However, the provincial councils still have to approve this annual amount.

The province had previously tried to allow paintball as a preventive method to scare away the wolves. This initially failed in court. Recently, the court ruled that paintball could still be allowed, but as there have been no recent sightings of wolves, which are not afraid of humans, the province allowed the necessary exemption to expire. Incidentally, the province is also expecting lawsuits against the new policy.

During the debate in the provincial government building in Arnhem, several opposition parties spoke out against the new policy. GroenLinks, Partij voor de Dieren and D66, among others, continued to speak out in favor of preventive measures, such as better protection for livestock. The PvdD pointed out that only a small proportion of livestock farmers had properly protected their animals from wolf attacks. Zoet stated that he would ask the states for more than 1 million euros per year for wolf-proof fencing if this amount proved insufficient.

Volt wanted clarity on how it is determined which wolf may be shot. The college wants wolves to be killed if they attack well-protected livestock more than twice a week. In this case, wolves within a radius of 1 km may be shot. Furthermore, no DNA tests are required to determine which wolf has attacked. According to Zoet, this is done "extremely carefully". According to him, first conducting DNA testing takes too long.