Millions of people watched the video of hiker Johan ten Brink from Hoogeveen, in which he was chased by a wolf on the Dwingelderveld. But due to the aftermath, Ten Brink now regrets the way he posted the video.
Johan ten Brink (57) looked the wolf straight in the eye. There the animal suddenly stood, about a twenty-minute walk from the Van der Valk hotel near the nature reserve.
The wolf continued to follow Ten Brink and his fellow walker Richard, made some feints, rolled along the side of the road for a while and eventually gave up. There was no question of a shy wolf. Definitely an undesirable situation, experts unanimously concluded.
“I wasn’t afraid, but I was shocked,” says ‘cameraman’ Ten Brink, looking back on the meeting about a week and a half ago. Once recovered, the hikers ate some fish, after which it was decided to inform the media and post the video on social media.
Millions of people subsequently saw the video. On his own Facebook page alone, 573,000 people saw the wolf’s chase. By placing it, De Hoogevener wants to warn other visitors in the Dwingelderveld. “If this wolf were to hurt someone the next day and I hadn’t posted anything online, I will never forgive myself.”
But Ten Brink’s phone explodes. Viewers give their opinions online en masse about the behavior of people and animals. “There were some nice reactions, but also a lot of negative ones. To be honest, I was more shocked by that than by the wolf itself.”
The video was also a source of discussion in the Provincial Council. There the question was asked whether Ten Brink had fed the wolf. This suggestion was also made several times online. “I didn’t give him anything at all,” Ten Brink responds fiercely. “Things are being insinuated that didn’t happen. I don’t like that.”
There are more things that disturbed him in the responses. Ten Brink is said to be holding something in his left hand, which he did not film. And Ten Brink would also talk as if he had just run fast and far. It’s all nonsense, he says. The walker’s voice sounds hoarse, but that has a medical reason.
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