The new sheep herd of the Balloërveld cannot be admired in its own sheepfold for the time being. The stable is not resistant to attacks of wolves and therefore the sheep spend the night in a different place.
The night stay of the sheep is completely open on one side. The foundation that manages the sheepfold is not comfortable with the fact that the wall of the cage is high enough to keep wolves out. The herd will therefore be staying in meadows surrounded by a movable wolf -resistant grid in the coming period.
The Balloërveld has been grazing by a new sheep herd for a few months, after the previous shepherd’s couple retired. “That seemed like a good time to carry out major maintenance on the Schaapskooi,” says board member Trea Sandjer of the Schaapskooi Balloërveld Foundation. “He is completely cleaned, there are fresh straw bales in it, we are going to paint and he becomes wolf proof.”
The previous shepherds prefer to keep the sheep out of the cage anyway, but the new shepherds want to do that differently. Together with the shepherd and a wolf consultant, the board will look at how the sheep in the cage can be protected against wolves. It is not yet clear when the sheep can return to their covered night stay.
If the sheep cannot in the cage, they normally stay in night meadows near the visitor center. But that is also not possible at the moment, says Herder Julie Teunen. “We had a lot of heat days and turned a tropical grid. On the night countries at the cage there is little to no shade. And we want the sheep to be able to be in the shade after grazing.”