Five sheep were killed in an attack between Amen and Grolloo on the night of Sunday to Monday. Another eighteen were put out of their misery by a veterinarian. Those involved suspect that a wolf has bitten quite a bit.
Sheep farmer Henry Kruid found the deceased sheep when he entered the field on Monday morning. “Others were seriously injured,” he said. “One had a broken leg, the other had tendons hanging out or there was damage to the back.”
According to Kruid, a veterinarian was forced to give the injured sheep an injection. This brings the death toll from the attack to 23. In Drenthe, it has happened once before in recent years that more sheep were killed. That was at the beginning of July 2022 in Geesbrug. Then 25 sheep fell victim to an attack by a wolf. This year the ‘record’ is fifteen deaths in Dwingeloo (February) and Nijensleek (January), according to figures from the implementation agency BIJ12.
DNA research has yet to determine whether it was actually a wolf that was responsible for the attack on Kruid’s animals. Hans Hasper, provincial coordinator of the Wolf Reporting Center in Drenthe, says that a dog is also capable of this.
At Kruid himself there is not a trace of doubt. According to him, the wolf bit around him ‘radically’. He says he has not taken any wolf-repellent measures in an attempt to protect his animals. “Suppose every farmer builds a large fence, where will all our game go?” he says. “They are then pushed into a corner. I also see among colleagues who do have a grid that it involves a lot of work. It is also a major investment.”
Hasper points to the subsidy that farmers can receive for a grid. “This attack is also a clear warning to sheep farmers that they must practice fencing,” he says. “It is not true that game cannot move any further. Deer jump over it and hares can pass under it.”
The provincial coordinator of the Wolf Reporting Center is not shocked by the number of dead and injured sheep between Amen and Grolloo. “The wolf first takes one sheep. The rest of its prey animals do not flee, they just come to see what is happening. The wolf then thinks: I am building up a stock. We call that ‘surplus killing’,” says Hasper.