Another encounter between wolf, people; Kill order impossible with tight restrictions

There has been another encounter between a wolf and people in the Netherlands. Last weekend, a wolf approached people with dogs in Dwingelderveld National Park in Drenthe. The province is investigating. The provinces of Utrecht and Gelderland have issued permits to kill two wolves involved in multiple incidents, but implementing those kill orders is proving impossible with the restrictions imposed, the Dutch Hunters' Association told RTL Nieuws.

A spokesperson for the province of Drenthe told ANP that in the recent incident, the wolf came “very close” to some dogs, but did not make physical contact. The dog owners chased the wolf away by screaming at it. Drenthe is looking at the guidelines in the wolf plan that the province adopted earlier this year to form a plan on how to approach the situation, the spokesperson said.

The wolf in Utrecht, nicknamed Bram, was involved in biting incidents with two children and a jogger on the Den Treek estate in Utrechtse Heuvelrug. The one in Gelderland, called Hubertus, came very close to several people and bit a runner in the Hoge Veluwe national park.

Both provinces decided that the animals had become too dangerous and issued shooting permits, Gelderland in May and Utrecht in July. Since then, teams of two or three specially selected hunters have been patrolling the areas to track and shoot the wolves, but without success.

According to Laurens Hoedemaker, director of the Dutch Hunters’ Association, the problem lies in the strict conditions of the shooting permits. The hunters are only allowed to kill the animals within a demarcated area, only in daylight so that they don’t mistakenly kill the wrong wolf, can’t lure them with food, and must not shoot the wolves where members of the public can see them, among other things.

The conditions to hunt out of sight of the public and only in daylight are proving particular problems, Hoedemaker told RTL Nieuws. According to him, some animal activists are following hunters around to make sure that they can’t shoot the wolves. And the shorter days mean less and less time.

The culling permits from Bram and Hubertus expire on January 1st. The provinces will soon decide whether to issue new permits.