Drenthe wants to shoot problem wolves that attack well-protected animals twice. But there are quite a few snags to sloping. Wolf expert Dick Klees answers seven questions about shooting.
“For example, if it concerns a one- or two-year-old wolf that takes a lot of sheep, then it could help. But if you shoot one of the parents, you disrupt the social cohesion in the pack, which is determined by the parents. Every wolf of the pack then sets out for their own gain. They then hunt for easy prey. This only disappears when they gain experience in hunting wild prey. There are many examples of how damage then increases greatly.”
“In Europe there are on average six to seven wolves per pack. A newly established pack has more pups in the first two years. But as there are more occupied territories, the number of pups drops to two to three per year. It takes two to three years before an equilibrium is reached. Then competition between packs begins. Then wolves can start fighting each other to death. If you start shooting, you have long throws.”
“The question is whether the wolf grids were good enough. If a wolf has little success in catching farm animals, then at some point it will no longer visit all the grids.”
“In addition, young wolves do go on hunts, but the killing is done by the parents. Young animals have seen how it works and still have to do it themselves. It is not the case that young animals have learned the trick if they have it.” copied from its parents. A wolf is always busy weighing up risks. Because if it gets injured, it can die of hunger.”
“A wolf that has learned to get through a wolf-resistant grid can still unlearn this. Although unlearning is more difficult than learning. If a wolf has a few negative experiences, this is a strong learning moment.”
“I don’t believe in technical solutions, such as deterring with light and sound. If there are no further consequences for the wolf, then it only works a few times. Putting poison in a sheep carcass or giving sheep a collar that emits electricity when a wolf attacks ? I don’t know if it’s allowed or if it works.”
“No. Tomorrow a new wolf from Germany will arrive and fill the gap. And if sheep are still not protected, the same situation will arise. It is a matter of mopping with the tap open. Preventing a wolf from taking a sheep as prey seeing is the best.”
“The wolf that you shoot learns nothing from it. If a wolf from a pack does not return, the question is whether the rest of the wolves can reason why that happened. From an evolutionary point of view, the wolf does not focus on a human but on ungulates. There have been cases of children who had to herd sheep and were caught by a wolf. It is not known whether these were targeted attacks or a wolf defending itself. In terms of numbers, an attack by a wolf on a human beings have never been a cause of death that is threatening.”
“In Germany, people go to bed early, especially in the countryside. In the Netherlands there is activity day and night. The number of encounters between humans and wolves is therefore greater in the Netherlands. The wolf still has to get used to being face to face in the Netherlands. with people. A wolf can become so used to people that it ignores them. Like the ‘mouse catcher’ at Oude Willem. He did not offend the people who photographed him from the public road. Until people started rattling cans. Then you try influence wolf behavior and teach the wolf to associate a human with food. If that wolf encounters a human next time and is not given sausage, it may become aggressive.”
“To do this, you must first determine a healthy conservation status. These are defined populations that must be able to continue to exist over a certain period with enough genetic variation.”
“I do not believe that the wolf density will increase so much that the Netherlands will absorb all surplus wolves in Europe. A territorial system is a space that is defended. That will not shift. If there is no suitable territory for a wandering wolf, then it often does not survive. Such a wolf has no knowledge of the terrain, moves into an unknown area and often becomes a traffic victim.”