Grumbling, occasional tirade and pointing fingers. Many emotions tonight in the town hall in Westerveld during the meeting about the wolf.
“A night for information, not a night for commitment.” With that announcement, the meeting about the wolf in the town hall in Diever was kicked off tonight. It turns out to be an evening with many worries, questions and indeed few solutions.
In the town hall are deputy Henk Jumelet and mayor of Westerveld, Rikus Jager. More than 150 people in the room who fire questions at the two. Désiré Karelse from BIJ12 and Harry Oosterman from the Drentse Wolf Committee also answer questions on the evening that was held at the request of the Westerveld municipality.
To ask
The emotions are immediately clear from the first question that is asked in the full hall in Diever. A questioner wants five minutes of speaking time, is not given it, and walks forward. After Mayor Rikus Jager’s promise that they will discuss 1-on-1 later, he returns to his seat. He gets applause.
The most used words tonight are probably ‘and horses’. As soon as Jumelet or one of the other speakers starts talking about sheep and cows, as prey animals, horse keepers mingle. They feel unheard of, according to several stories. “I have ponies, how do I keep them safe?”
In addition to questions about ponies, there are many questions about the necessity of the wolf in Drenthe. Many people indicate that they fear for their own safety, that of their child or that of their dog. ‘Why does that wolf have to come? Isn’t it at the expense of other things such as safe tourism and the deer population in Southwest Drenthe? And when is the wolf so problematic that it can be shot?’, are some of the many questions that are asked.
No answers
“I don’t think there can be an answer to every question,” says Jumelet, who answers most of the questions. “The intention is to answer as many questions as possible. Being here shows that it concerns us all.”
A quiet question-and-answer session is by no means. The majority of the audience that has come is happy to see the wolf leave Southwest Drenthe and applauds when a questioner, often indirectly, insists on a penalty.
There are no sounds of pro-wolf’ers. People can also submit questions via WhatsApp. A suggestion to allow more prey animals such as wild boars in Drenthe is met with derision. Jumelet then indicates that this is not a solution to the problem. “We are now seeing so much damage, not all of them will be prevented.” He again reports that the province is betting on a zero level for big game, so no boars.
AT12
Critical questions about the working method of BIJ12, which handles claims for the province, are also received with applause. That organization has been busy in Drenthe in recent months, with the many attacks on sheep and occasionally other livestock.
Karelse van Bij12 says that not everything goes well with the settlement, but that they are working hard to improve the system and settle claims faster. In addition, he says that the organization publishes all reported damages online. According to one questioner, data from land management organizations is missing.
Jumelet promises to gain more insight into the damage to herds at site management organizations such as Staatsbosbeheer and Natuurmonumenten. Jumelet gets applause, one of the few times.