There isn’t enough space on the planet it seems to me to re-wild nature with wolves because there’s always an animal-human conflict at the end of the process. You will see many stories of rewilding exercises in Europe normally wolves and bears. And you’ll also see the resultant conflict between these animals and people living near their habitats. Of course there are successes but the human population is in general expanding.
How fast is the population of the Netherlands growing? In 2023, the Dutch population grew by 131,651 inhabitants (including corrections). This is equivalent to 7.3 additional people per thousand inhabitants. At the end of 2023, the population stood at 17,942,942. The Netherlands is the most densely populated country in Europe with 505 people per square kilometre, followed by England on 426. But they like to have wild wolves in the forest. Practical?
I realise I am being a bit negative. I’d say realistic. There is always conflict of some kind and if it is not between wolf and human it is between human and human on how to rewild wolves or if they should be rewilded at all. America is immune to this problem at present because it is so huge. But with a rapidly increasing human population one day they’ll have the European rewilding problem. The human is basically greedy. Always wanted more including more space. We can’t settle on the space we have. This issue is played out very starkly in India.
Another example is in the newspaper today. In The Netherlands there has been a series of disturbing wolf attacks which has prompted officials to warn hikers and picnickers to steer clear of forests around Utrecht. It is also prompted officials to consider granting a licence to shoot an individual wolf that they think is the perpetrator.
Yes, officials are seeking a shooting permit to allow a gamekeeper to either shoot this miscreant wolf behaving naturally or shoot paint balls at them to scare them away (better).
This is the usual human-animal conflict because in my view there is not enough space on the planet to house and allow people to enjoy their lives normally while at the same time giving some of the landscape back to wild animals which have been persecuted to near extinction.
The same problems exist in the UK where there’s been talk of rewilding with Eurasian lynx. Conservationists are very much for it while businesses such as farmers and some individual people are against it because they are frightened of this medium-sized wildcat and the animal-human conflict that will ensue.
It’s the same sort of problem. A constant competition between conservationists and what I would argue is greedy people. People who constantly want more: more settlements, more businesses, bigger businesses, more housing, build over the green belt. If you constantly expand the human population and constantly expand settlements you squeeze out nature. There is no space left for wolves or any other wild animal.
This is what’s happening in the Netherlands. In this instance the child was knocked over by a large animal believed to be a wolf. They’re not sure obviously. The animal leapt on her while she was out with her father and grandmother in a forest near the village of Austerlitz. She didn’t suffer any real harm just scratches. It happened at the Den Treek nature reserve.
Regrettably, reports indicate that wolf attacks on sheep and other animals have more than tripled year on year with 267 incidents in the first three months of 2024 which compares very badly with 77 in the same period last year.
The authorities in Utrecht have advised people not to go to local forests and nature reserves especially with small children which is regrettable because these are great places to go into for kids; to enjoy nature, to connect with nature which is very important for children especially.
This behaviour is described as very untypical of the wolf and therefore it might not be a wolf. About two weeks ago a girl was bitten by wolf in the same park and two weeks before that a dog was killed by a predator.
They believe that it is the same wolf involved in earlier incidents with a girl and a dog. The authorities have decided to apply for a shooting permit to kill the animal. How will they recognise the animal!? Will they should the right wold?
The Dutch Fauna Protection Foundation said that a shooting permit was “completely unthinkable”. They have threatened legal action to stop any wolf hunt under European Union “protected status” rules concerning this species of animal.
RELATED: News roundup on the rewilding in the UK of wildcats
