For the time being, the province of Gelderland is not allowed to chase away the wolf at De Hoge Veluwe with paintball guns. This has been ruled by the Court of Central Netherlands.
According to the court, the province has not sufficiently substantiated why it is necessary to chase them away with paint bullets. The province has six weeks to provide a better substantiation. Until the final verdict, the paintball guns must remain in the closet anyway.
At the end of last year, the province decided to allow the use of paint bullets in wolves that systematically show non-shy behavior at De Hoge Veluwe. Wolves should become afraid of humans again. The Fauna Protection went to court.
In mid-July, the preliminary relief judge decided that the municipality was not yet allowed to use the paintball gun until a new court hearing took place.
Protected
The wolf has a protected status; they should not be caught, disturbed or killed in the wild. At the same time, the province wants to prevent the animal from becoming too tame. Gelderland is afraid of a confrontation between humans and animals.
For example, the animal has recently been spotted more and more in various forests throughout the country:
The Fauna Protection wants other measures to be taken, such as an eating ban for visitors to De Hoge Veluwe or a partial closure. The province and the park find these resources infeasible or insufficient, writes Omroep Gelderland.
- Elsewhere in the EU they are shooting wolves, the Netherlands is waiting for Brussels
- Scaring off wolf with paintball gun is not allowed, province concerned
