Eleven dead sheep were found on Monday morning in a meadow on the Witte Dijk in Sprang-Capelle. This may have been the work of a wolf, thinks vice-chairman Patrick Spierings of ZLTO department De Langstraat. “This attack comes out of nowhere. In Brabant there have been no signs in recent weeks that a wolf would be walking around.”
The way the sheep were mutilated suggests that a wolf must have kept the house. Spierings prefers not to go into details.
The animals belong to a sheep farmer in Sprang-Capelle, who found them on Monday morning and had his hands full removing the dead animals. He also had to move thirty other sheep, who were part of the flock, to another safer place. The same wolf may have been spotted in Raamsdonk later in the morning, images of this have been made.
‘Measures needed’
Spierings hopes that not only other sheep farmers, but also hobbyists will take measures to prevent new misery. “This is a signal. People who have a pony or a few sheep should also pay attention. It is everyone’s responsibility to protect those animals.”
The duped owner of the sheep has been in contact with Staatsbosbeheer, which has plots of land near the place where the wolf is said to have struck. A spokesperson for Staatsbosbeheer: “That contact went well, but I cannot say how he experiences all this. It is also up to the province, which is the point of contact in this regard.” The province will provide a response later this Monday.
The last known report of a wolf that killed a sheep in Brabant dates from July. Then sheep farmer Hans van Lieshout from Sterksel was the victim, not for the first time.
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