LimburgStrangely enough, the stormy weather of the past few days also led to a peak in the number of wolf reports at the Meldpunt van Welkom Wolf. It is true that there are quite a number of incorrect messages. “Welkom Wolf registered a striking number of reports of wandering ‘wolves’ who could quickly be unmasked as escaped wolfdogs or other lookalikes,” says Jan Loos of Welkom Wolf.
According to Loos, quite a few dog owners have had to experience in recent days that a hefty storm brings up primal fears in their animals. As a result, they ran away and many of these animals are mistakenly regarded as wolves. “Saarloos wolfdogs and Czechoslovakian wolfdogs are essentially German shepherds where a little wolf was crossed in decades ago,” Loos explains. “They are recognized dog breeds, but the animals do show a lot of resemblance to a wolf. Other lookalikes, such as certain sled dogs, are also quickly reported as wolves by non-experienced observers as soon as no owner is around.”
Database
“It is enough for some of those lookalikes to go around on their own to get the phone of Welcome Wolf red hot,” he continues. “If that happens everywhere in Flanders at the same time, the fence will be completely off the dam. Fortunately, Welcome Wolf knows his Pappenheimers live. In addition to a database full of sightings of real wolves, Welcome Wolf also maintains a database of false wolf reports. They often concentrate around the residences of all those wolfdogs and other lookalikes.”
Anyone who thinks they have seen a wolf – a real or a fake one – can certainly continue to report this via 0495-32 53 30 or [email protected].
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