Wolf talk in Zeist
Main photo: wolvenpaar-de-hoge-veluwe-national-park-netherlands-royalty-free-image-1723128065.avif
It is already 12 midnight and I am still awake. I tell my wife that I am getting up because my head is full. It is the talk of the day here in Zeist, everyone is talking about “The Wolf” and I do not mean the Riem brothers and Ruud de Wolff from The Blue Diamonds. Have you heard that the wolf has been seen there and there and have you read or heard that 5, 9, 40 and more sheep have been killed. Supporters and opponents are diametrically opposed to each other.
Opponents say “they bite sheep to death, shoot them, arrest them, sterilize them and castrate them”. Supporters come up with arguments such as “dogs also bite sheep to death, they used to live here and also have the right to be here”. But let us continue to talk to each other and respect each other's opinion, whether you are a supporter or an opponent. Keep discussing and do not verbally murder each other.
You probably still know that song “Hey, Little Red Riding Hood, where are you going? So alone, so alone” from your childhood. With the sequel “Watch out, there comes the wolf”. This children's song is more relevant than ever and you don't have to watch out because wolves are already there.
I hardly ever walk the (scary) forest next to our house on the Heidestein estate anymore and certainly not with the dogs loose. We moved there at the beginning of 2022 because of that forest, now deer and other game are migrating because wolves like a leg of deer. Six sheep were already bitten to death at the sheepfold in May 2023. So off to De Breul park or the Molenbosch, but how long will it be before wolves walk there too?
While talking to walkers and dog owners, an acquaintance walks by and casually asks “you're not talking about the wolf, are you?”. That person already answers the question himself. Yes, they are. It drives me crazy and then “they won't come here, will they?”. I'll throw some more oil on the fire for so much naivety, no, they come from Poland and Romania via Germany to the Netherlands and then walk via the Veluwe to the Den Treek estate in Leusden. Austerlitz, which belongs to Zeist, is then only 7 km and to where we are standing here 5 km further. No, those wolves will not cross the Arnhemse Bovenweg to the Molenbosch and they will not smell those three sheep behind here, the one-metre high wire fence. Do know that a settled wolf covers 20-25 km per day and a walking/wandering wolf 60-70 km and that the territory can cover 200-300 km². Against the wind, a wolf can spot other animals at 300 metres and it has a vision angle of 250° (human 180°). The wolf hears up to 40 kHz, tones that are too high for human hearing. Well, what do you think and I am looked at in disbelief and with glazed eyes. Finally, I would like to say something in passing, did you know that Little Red Riding Hood is also said to be coming back?
Numerous observations, incidents and calls
• 12-05-2023 Wolf spotted at the Kozakkenput in Zeist, forest ranger is enthusiastic
• 04-06-2023 Six sheep bitten to death on the Heidestein estate near Zeist
• 17-06-2023 Hikers see a young wolf on the Darrenweg and Grensweg in Austerlitz
• 30-10-2023 Four reports of wolves in the municipality of Zeist registered with the wolf reporting center Bij12
• 30-11-2023 One report of wolf in the municipality of Zeist registered with the wolf reporting center Bij12
• 20-12-2023 Province provides subsidy for wolf-repellent fences
• 30-01-2024 Two reports of wolves in the municipality of Zeist registered with the wolf reporting center Bij12 \
• 09-05-2024 Wolf spotted at the Kozakkenput Austerlitz on the border of Zeist
• 11-05-2024 Confrontation between wolf and dog in Austerlitz; province issues leash advice
• 17-05-2024 Maltese dog attacked by a wolf in the forest area Kamp van Zeist
• 06-07-2024 Dog bitten to death and taken away by wolf in Leusden
A wolf (expert) said during the program Vroege Vogels” on Sunday morning between 7 and 10 o'clock that he was afraid that the wolf will do this more often because of the experience of how easy it is to catch a dog. A week later a child was bitten, so……….. Or am I wrong?
• 07-16-2024 Girl near Leusden was bitten by a wolf • 07-31-2024 Girl near Austerlitz knocked over by wolf, experts speak of a 'problem situation' • 08-07-2024 Dog turns out to be bitten by wolf Krakelingweg in Zeist
• 08-06-2024 Deputy Sterk: 'Single wolf responsible for most incidents'
• 08-07-2024 Dog bitten by wolf in Utrecht forests: fourth incident in a short time
Following incidents with the wolf, the province and the municipalities of Leusden, Zeist, Woudenberg and the Utrechtse Heuvelrug are calling on residents and visitors to be very careful in the forest area of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. The advice is not to visit the forests of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the aforementioned municipalities with small children. In addition, it is strongly advised to keep dogs on a leash and close by.
wolf-de-hoge-veluwe-national-park-netherlands-royalty-free-image-1721204803.avif
Why did the wolf disappear
In the past, there were many more wolves in the Netherlands than there are now, and in 1760, there was even talk of a “wolf plague” in Brabant. Until the end of the 1800s, large hunting parties were organised throughout Western Europe, sometimes with thousands of participants. Other reasons for these hunting parties were the shrinking of habitats due to agriculture and urbanisation. Back then, too, cattle were seized and hunters received bounties for shooting a wolf. By the end of the nineteenth century, there were no wolves left in Western Europe. The last wolf in the Netherlands was probably killed in 1868 (approx. 4,500,000 inhabitants) near Schinveld in South Limburg.
Why did the wolf return
The wolf retreated to the forests of Romania and Poland for a long time. At the Bern Convention in 1979 (± 14,000,000 inhabitants) the wolf was given protected status and since 1992 (± 15,130,000 inhabitants) all EU member states must ensure that there is a hunting ban so that the animal can reproduce in peace.
In 2015, the first wolf was spotted in the Netherlands and at the beginning of 2019 (± 17,282,000 inhabitants) a female wolf settled on the Veluwe. The animal came from a litter in the German state of Brandenburg and travelled hundreds of kilometres to cross the Dutch border (handy for the wolf, Google Maps). In Drenthe, the female wolf hunted deer, hares and sometimes sheep and on the Veluwe she eventually found her home. Together with a second wolf she had a litter, which made the return of the wolf to the Netherlands a fact.
Wolf problem is not caused by wolves but by humans
But let me state first that it is not the wolf that caused the problem but humans, or rather the policy makers at the Bern Convention and in Brussels.
With over 18,000,000 people, we live on 41,543 km² which is 530 inhabitants per km². Compare that with the number of inhabitants per km² in Belgium 381 per km², Germany 237 per km², Poland 125 per km², France 117 per km² and Romania 85 per km² and you see that the Netherlands is a very densely populated country.
Those same policy makers will also have to come up with a solution for the many wolves in the Netherlands and the protected status of the wolf will have to be adjusted. It has been shown that wolf fences do not stop wolves and that they simply jump over them. Since the Bern Convention in 1979, the world has changed completely and you will have to adapt legislation to the present day. Legislation must be dynamic in a rapidly changing world. We don't fight with bows and arrows anymore, do we? It is annoying that changes to laws are made via the European Parliament in Brussels and cannot be adapted to the situation here at a national level. You run into wolf fences behind which civil servants quickly shout that they can't do anything about it and that it has to go through the European Parliament in Brussels. Solutions are delayed for years in this way, during which the population continues to expand.
Number of wolves and packs
Researchers from Wageningen University & Research expect that in the future there will be around 23 to 56 wolf packs with five to nine wolves per pack. Wolves give birth to 4 to 8 cubs per year. According to the most recent figures, there are currently around sixty wolves living in our country, which, with the exception of a few wandering ones, are divided over ten packs. The majority live on the Veluwe, but since last year there have also been two males and a female on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. Five cubs have been seen there this year. With 4 to 8 cubs per litter, you can calculate that the species will quickly increase with sixty wolves.
A wolf pack
A healthy wolf family consists of several generations living together. Usually, all wolves are related to each other: two parent animals, the cubs born the year before and a few young adults who have ‘stayed around’ until they start their own family. The young adults help keep the family going by going hunting and looking after the youngest brothers and sisters. At the age of about 3 years, wolves have their first litter with a partner from an unrelated tribe with whom they establish a new territory. They do this far away from their parent animals. At 10 to 11 years, the wolf’s fertile period is over and he passes the torch to the offspring: a retired female transfers her territory to a daughter or sister.
What does a wolf eat
Wolves eat red deer, roe deer, wild boar and, in the absence of these, also cattle such as sheep. It surprises and worries me greatly that they commit such massacres which show that they do not only kill to eat. Normally a wolf kills to satisfy its hunger, to feed the cubs and returns to the carcass until there is nothing left. These massacres are deviant (atypical) from the normal behaviour of the wolf.
3 tips for recognising a wolf track
Recognising a wolf track by paw prints
Wolves have large front paws: usually about 8.5 to 10 centimetres, the hind paws are 7.5 to 9 cm. The paws are longer than they are wide, which gives them a ‘teardrop shape’ in which you can draw an X.
A wolf track is often straight
Wolf tracks often run straight over a distance of about a hundred to sometimes even four hundred metres. To save energy, wolves move at a trot over long distances. As a result, you often see an imprint of the hind leg directly in or next to that of the front leg, with the same distance between them (50-70 centimetres).
Wolf droppings contain hair
Wolves often kill their prey by biting them in the throat, after which they eat the animal almost completely. So if you come across a dead animal along your walking route that is almost completely gone, there is a chance that a wolf has walked in front of you. Wolf droppings (over 2.5 centimetres thick and 20 centimetres long) usually contain a lot of hair and are often white because they even eat the bones of their prey.
Once again, the wolf problem is not caused by the wolf but by humans.
Politicians, both European and national, must quickly adjust laws to prevent the wolf problem from getting out of the wolf's claws. A paintball gun will not scare a wolf off the second or third time either. You quickly get used to the fact that there is no danger there, just as wolf fences are obstacles for wolves to overcome.
Watch out, there comes the wolf. Soon we will be 18,000,000 inhabitants imprisoned behind bars because the wolf finds all those slightly too fat Dutch people, like me, very tasty.
Enjoy your walk, Arnie Della Rosa
You can read my walking stories as well as the columns of other Zeister columnists at https://www.zeistermagazine.nl