Authorities Province of Gelderlandin the Netherlands proposed to shoot wolves from paintball balls. This may sound like a joke, but it’s not at all because it’s their way of dealing with what they consider to be an almost invasive species. Of course, they think that in this way you can scare them away so that they do not harm the visitors of the establishment. Hoge Veluwe National Parkleaving them marked to see which ones they have already acted on.
This is a measure as curious as it is controversial, since the first question we must ask ourselves is whether it really makes sense to scare them away. own ecosystem protect visiting people. This is a complex issue, to which these authorities have added that in fact they also protect local fauna.
They claim that some herbivores, such as mouflonsare seeing a decrease in their population due to an increase in the number of wolves in the area. This can affect the entire ecosystem as its loss can have a domino effect on other species, both animals and plants. But leaving that aside, why are wolves so desperately feared in Holland?
More and more wolves in Holland
Final use decision paintball balls against the wolves of the park This came after images of one of them walking in close proximity to a family with children were posted. It’s unusual. As a rule, wolves do not approach people, so some members of the animal welfare association faunabessherming Park officials were accused of intentionally feeding the wolves. They deny they did it and claim the problem is population growth from these animals.
That same summer, the International Wolf Center reported that indeed in recent months the population of these animals has increased, in total by four herds between the river Hoge Veluwe and the Frisian border with Drenthe. However, the same statement made a call for calm, and it was ensured that this did not represent a dangerous growth.
It uses as the assertion source for dutch news from the wolf expert of the Dutch Mammal Society Glenn Lelyveld. He pointed out that these animals tend to avoid humans and are more likely to die from a coconut falling on their head than from being attacked by a wolf.
Despite this, the director of the park launched a campaign two years ago to lift measures to protect wolves and control your population donating some samples. The campaign had no effect, so he had no choice but to look for another, somewhat more ingenious option, in which paintball balls they are the main characters.
Paintballs to drive away
FROM Hoge Veluwe clarified that just rangers they will be able to shoot paintballs at the wolves. The goal is to scare them so they don’t get close less than 30 meters from visitors. In addition, by marking them with color, they could find out which ones they had already affected.
This is the only measure they have been able to resort to that is compatible with conservation efforts for a species that returned to the country only a few years ago, after a century and a half of extinction due to indiscriminate hunting.
Since he returned, the farmers have not stopped complaining about the death of some of the lambs, despite the fact that every year there are more of them. dog attacks on livestock. There were also warnings of deaths exceeding mouflons. However, at the time of the reintroduction, it was speculated that they might live together. 20 herd without changing the rest of the ecosystem.
So, as members of many animal welfare societies warn, it’s more like measure the fruit of fear. Wolf attacks are extremely rare, but they are still talked about a lot in the press. We have also seen this in the north of Spain. At least in the Netherlands they found a measure that does not harm animals, but is it really necessary? Is it really the first priority to scare and tag some animals that all they have done is return to the place from which they were once forcibly expelled? Of course, these are important questions. As the Dutch Rangers play their strangest game of paintball, we should all take the opportunity to think about them.
Source: Hiper Textual
