Dead wolf found along the highway near Eindhoven | the animals

Around midnight, Rijkswaterstaat received information that there was a dead fox along the highway. “When the road inspector went to look, I found a dead wolf,” the spokeswoman said. The wolf was taken to the Dutch Wildlife Health Center (DWHC) at Utrecht University for further research.

Wageningen Environmental Research also conducts research that determines the age, stomach contents and condition of the animal. These types of studies are part of the Inter-District Wolves Plan. “It shows how we deal with a wolf and how collisions with wolves are handled,” the spokeswoman said. The study is expected to be completed by mid-February.

This is the seventh time a car has killed a wolf since the predator returned to the Netherlands in 2019. Farmers interests organization ZLTO questions whether the Netherlands with “high population density and extensive infrastructure” is suitable for a wolf. Not to mention the damage to farm animals, according to the organization. Wolves expert Hugh Jansmann of Wageningen University thinks so, although traffic will still be the main cause of wolves’ death, he admits. “However, this should not stand in the way of a healthy population,” Jansmann says.

The Mammal Association wants to take quick measures to protect the wolf from traffic. A new Wolf plan is expected to be rolled out among counties this year with measures to protect predators, as well as farm animals and humans.

DNA research should show whether the wolf killed on Monday was a vagrant from Germany looking for new territory. It may also be a male wolf from southern Europe, who has identified an area near the crash site since 2020.

See also: Wolf spotted on the Scheldelaan River in Antwerp

See also: Wolf spotted in Calmthot and Essen