now that they're back, eg. wild boar are seen congegating in groups of 50-60 animals, for herd safety. something they never did before.
Edit: this linked, translated article has more info https://nos-nl.translate.goog/artikel/2635314-wolf-maakt-zwi...
Rhetoric questions by proponents as seen on national news website[1]:
> We hebben ook weleens last van de mens, die schieten we toch ook niet af?
> -- Aaldrik Pot
Translated:
"We also have issues with people every now and then, were not shooting them are we?"
[1]: https://nos.nl/artikel/2245512-waarom-willen-we-eigenlijk-wi...
Well, if you go further back in time, there were. It's not like introducing a nonnative species.
In those 100 years the rest of the environment changed, it's a bit of an experiment right to reintroduce it without having contingency plan if things go wrong, because shooting them if they are too aggressive is not allowed, unless they're marked as 'problem wolf'.
In a paper published in 2016, “The first proof of the recent presence of Wolves in the Netherlands,” authors wrote:
“In light of the expansion of wolves from the Polish border to the northwest of Germany and the sightings in Denmark, the appearance of the wolf in the Netherlands was no surprise to most experts. In March 2015, this expectation was fulfilled when, after generations without resident wolves, a single wolf wandered through the Dutch provinces of Drenthe and Groningen in broad daylight. From 7 to 10 March 2015, the Netherlands witnessed the comeback of an iconic species.”
Wolf numbers are now reportedly at 131 split across roughly 14 packs (April 2026): https://nltimes.nl/2026/04/11/dutch-wolf-population-growing-...
I have zero insight into why Wageningen University & Research (WUR) in the Netherlands concluded in a study that "the Netherlands are legally required to contribute between 23 and 56 wolf packs" (Lost in translation? - perhaps "can support and shouldn't cull below these numbers" ?)
~ https://www.wur.nl/en/news/ecological-and-legal-framework-wo...
Reading further:
It seems that this is part of a european "habitats directive" for managing biodiversity within Europe. This directive (according to the above paper) determined there need to be around 500 wolf packs across Europe to keep wolves at a stable level without too much inbreeding. The Netherlands was found to be able to "contribute" 23 to 56 wolf packs in this sense.
If those were private sheep, shouldn't they be better guarded?
Wildboars can be quite destructive, as are deers. the wolve was the natural preditor of those animals so the only thing that kept them in check was either hunting, disease or food availability.
In the UK deer over population is a problem for forestry as they eat saplings. So we spend a lot of cash hunting them (good food source, but not widely distributed in shops) Wolves stop that.
For the netherlands sspecifically, where there are deer they eat the trees that provide bank stability (ie willows) Less of a problem now but they also eat the pioneer species that were used to build polders.
Deer carry disease for cattle and sheep as well. although cows in holland are fairly hemmed in, ticks and fleas are less so.
Why are sheep so important to protect versus wolves? They are both animals that existed in nature and can continue to exist in nature.
Why should we be morally inclined to try and "save" sheep at the expense of wolves. Sheep and goats and deer survived throughout history without the help of humans they will continue to exist, with or without the help of humans against wolves.
Sheep are a cash animal, and wolves taking them cost money.
Here we're still surrounded by wild ecosystems and unaligned others: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA3SuHtCWo0
I do wonder where you live in the Netherlands and if you just find it convenient to talk about the rural parts without having to face the consequences.
So what is a village of humans- not allowed to hunt me near houses, with driving cars- other then a predator scratchpost. Bonuspoints if the disney-hystrics install dart guns to sedate the predators.
Also look at those boars and deer. They are massive. Are you really sure, a creature whose culture changes on a yearly basis, will not try to attack a weak human, compared to a wild boar, when hunger bites in the winter?
That's somewhat distinct from going further beyond their boundaries to wipe out threats not directly on their land.
There are no recent (last half century) documented cases of wolves killing people in Europe as far as I know. The few times people have been bitten by wolves they've been feeding them or doing other stupid stuff.
Wolves stay away from humans, there have been zero human deaths by wolves. The whole anti wolf movement is just propaganda by the “farmers”.
It applies in more places that are heavily anthropized, such as many islands.
But yeah, most of Europe is practically a garden.
I don’t think it was a reintroduction, nor was it sudden.
AFAIK, they came back on their own accord, and their return was fairly slowly, after wolves returned to western Germany.
https://wolf.org/wow/europe/netherlands/:
“In a paper published in 2016, “The first proof of the recent presence of Wolves in the Netherlands,” authors wrote:
“In light of the expansion of wolves from the Polish border to the northwest of Germany and the sightings in Denmark, the appearance of the wolf in the Netherlands was no surprise to most experts. In March 2015, this expectation was fulfilled when, after generations without resident wolves, a single wolf wandered through the Dutch provinces of Drenthe and Groningen in broad daylight. From 7 to 10 March 2015, the Netherlands witnessed the comeback of an iconic species.”
Since 2019, the country has once again become home to its first pack of wolves with young pups after 150 years. Genetic sampling revealed the Netherlands wolves came from an Alpine population and Central European populations (i.e. Germany)“
Pair the sheep and goat herds with one or two decent sheepdogs - Kangals/Karabaş, Ovcharka (in Slavic languages, ovce means sheep, so their purpose is literally their name) or similar large breeds. That is usually enough to drive off wolves to feed off of deer instead that are a true scourge for forestry when the hunters don't keep up.
Your link might have been wishful thinking by the wilderness society boosting an unconfirmed hearsay, or perhaps it was true but the few wolves mentioned didn't flourish.
eg: (2025) - Scientists want to release 160 wolves in Scotland... https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/uk-160-wol...
You almost always get 'something' from your government even if i want it or not, call it subsidiaries or not, the moment i do, i forego my right to complain?
I indeed have an issue with rules enforced on EU level, which seem great on paper, but have negative implications on local level. Course correction takes ages. This is the typical distance to power concept.
Sure... It's a developed productive high tech country with agricultural exports leaving Russia in the dust despite 400 times smaller land size, but let's condemn it because it's "safe"
Also ask the farmers, fishers, ASML employees, the police dealing with gang killings and Netherlands being the biggest exporter of ecstasy and European gateway for coke how it's a "holiday park";)
also ecstasy is made there in NL, so the port thing is kind of a red herring
Disneyland with the Death Penalty" is a 4,500-word article about Singapore written by William Gibson. It wad his first major piece of non-fiction.
Really not helping their reputation as authoritarian...