Icng: How important is the wolf to biodiversity? And the ecosystem in the Veluwe?
“Wolves keep the population of animals they hunt healthy. Because the weaker animals are the easiest prey, the wolves select them. In addition, the arrival of the wolf ensures that deer in the Veluwe are more alert. They no longer dare to eat in certain cases places This again ensures that emerging forest is not immediately eaten by deer, but has the opportunity to grow.”
“The carcasses that the wolves leave are also a source of food for all kinds of animals. Think of ravens or wild boars. But also, for example, the tit, because of the insects that live on a carcass. Butterflies also benefit from the wolf. They lick up minerals from animals killed by wolves.”
“In Yellowstone National Park in the United States, the wolf returned almost thirty years ago. There the numbers of beavers, dragonflies, frogs and kingfishers grew.”
“Last weekend we wrote a piece about the positive consequences of the wolf’s return.”
Bmalussen: Why don’t these wolves just kill for food, but often just bite livestock to death and then abandon the animals? Is such ‘killingness’ normal for wolves, or is there something about these Veluwe wolves that makes them behave unnaturally?
“To start with the last part of your question, there is nothing wrong with wolves biting a lot of livestock and then leaving the dead sheep behind.”
“It is part of the predators’ instinct – if they get the chance – to kill as many prey as possible. This also happens, for example, when a fox attacks chickens in a henhouse.”
“It has to do with the fact that predators never know when there is another chance to catch prey. That’s why they kill as many as possible. You can think of it as building up a stockpile. Once a wolf has killed livestock , dead animals are logically cleaned up by humans. In nature reserves, a wolf often eats the same prey days in a row.”
Wienya: Why don’t they leave dead animals? A wolf always comes to eat from a carcass several times. If each carcass is cleaned up each time, then such an animal must kill again to survive.
“Nature managers are increasingly leaving dead animals in an area. This is not only good for the wolf, but also for scavengers such as the fox, raven, wild boar and other animals and thus the entire biodiversity.”
“Wolf prey is not removed, because a wolf actually returns several times to eat prey. It is of course different for cattle that have been killed by a wolf. It is cleaned up.”
Dayama2: What should you do if you walk your dogs meet a wolf in the forest?
“If you go to a nature reserve where the wolf occurs, it is wise to keep your dog on a lead. In any case, it is usually legal to keep your dog on a lead in nature reserves.”
“The moment a wolf comes at you, slowly move away from the wolf. Don’t go after the wolf. It needs to feel space to leave. Talking loudly and making arm movements can also help.”
Maartenvp: We now have a small wolf population. How to prevent inbreeding?
“There are now about twenty wolves living in the Netherlands. That actually seems like a bit of a healthy population. But the wolves in the Netherlands are usually part of the population in the central European lowlands. This also includes the wolves that live in Poland, Germany, for example. and Belgium lives.”
“When a wolf is one or almost two years old, it leaves the pack and the animal looks for its own territory. Then it waits for a partner to form its own pack again.”
“Wolves from the Alps have also come our way more and more in recent years. Ecologists see this as positive. Because if an Alpine wolf has cubs with a Central European wolf, it is good for genetic diversity.”
Radebruin: If an animal species has no natural enemies, you run the risk of rapid growth. In my opinion, the wolf in our country has no natural enemy. So how do we keep the increase within limits? Can humans be potential prey?
“The wolf really has no natural enemy in the Netherlands. Or you should call other wolves the wolf’s natural enemy. If there is too little habitat for wolves, a fight for territories occurs. The strongest wolf then hunts or kills the other wolf.”
“Furthermore, a wolf will not have cubs if there is too little food supply. This is also common in nature.”
“Wolves are naturally afraid of people. They will therefore avoid people as much as possible. This does not mean that they are not seen in areas where people live. Wolves like to use our infrastructure, such as roads. They do not see that as something human.”
“In Europe, it is rare for wolves to bite humans. Between 2002 and 2020, this happened seven times. Research shows that these were wolves that were barely afraid of humans and were used to finding food near humans .”
“That is why it is also important that the young tame wolf in the De Hoge Veluwe National Park learns to be afraid of people again.”
2:41Insinger: How big is the wolf’s reproduction?
“In a wolf pack, an average of four or five cubs are born each year. Not all cubs survive. The Central European wolf population, of which most wolves in the Netherlands are a part, grows by around 30 percent annually.”
Deunhouwer: Will wolves be expected in the dune area of North and South Holland in the near future?
“Good question! It’s just not obvious. In 2012 there was research into suitable habitats for the wolf. This showed that the dunes in North and South Holland are not suitable territories for the wolf.”
“In principle, wolves can live in all types of landscapes, but they prefer wooded areas. The Veluwe and a large part of the north-eastern Netherlands are particularly suitable for the wolf. Utrechtse Heuvelrug, Maasduinen, east of Brabant, Oostvaardersplassen and Horsterwold could be.”
2021: The Netherlands has four packages. How many wolf packs are there? place in the Netherlands in relation to food offerings? And what if there is not enough food in the Netherlands? Do they then move to Germany, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia or Belgium, France and the Alpine region?
“There are actually four parcels in the Netherlands. Three in the Veluwe and one in the Drents-Friese Wold. It is not known exactly how many parcels there is room for in the Netherlands.”
“Research from ten years ago showed that there is room for at least sixteen packages. But it could also be more.”
“A wolf decides, among other things, on the basis of the food supply, whether an area is suitable for living in. It is therefore important to properly protect sheep and other livestock with wolf-resistant grids. In this way, the wolves learn not to see livestock as a source of food.”
“If there is too little food, wolves will eliminate each other in the hunt for a territory. At the moment, for example, it is still the case that many red deer and wild boar are shot every year in the Veluwe because there are too many.”
Harold: What are the disadvantages of the wolf in Holland?
“It depends on who you ask. If you ask a nature lover or ecologist, there are actually no disadvantages. As described above, many other animals benefit from wolves in a nature reserve.”
“The farmers are less happy about the wolf’s arrival. Sheep and other livestock are sometimes attacked by a wolf, and the farmers obviously don’t like that.”
“You can also call fear a disadvantage of the wolf, but that is subjective. Many people who live near forests where wolves live no longer dare to leave their small children alone. Wolves are more afraid of people than the other way around, but it’s hard for people to overcome that fear.”
