Photo Robert Larsson/Unsplash Between 23 and 56 wolf packs can live in the Dutch countryside. Only then can the population in Central Europe be considered healthy. This is according to ecological research conducted by WUR on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture. Only when these numbers have been reached will there be scope for measures to intervene in the event of wolf nuisance.
Jean Rummenie, the BBB State Secretary responsible for the wolf dossier, is particularly disappointed about this, he told the House of Representatives on Friday. In a note accompanying the WUR report, he dismisses the Wageningen research as ‘theoretical’ and even ‘unusable’. ‘I expected the researchers to take into account the specific situation of a small and densely populated country like the Netherlands. Unfortunately, that is not the case.’
Misleading
WUR has responded strongly to Rummenie’s statements. According to the university, the ministry itself chose not to have the researchers look at the social effects. A spokesperson for the board of directors called the State Secretary’s response ‘not only incorrect, but also misleading’. Remarkably, WUR has received support from Rummenie’s own civil servants.
According to a note accompanying the report, the Wageningen researchers delivered exactly what had been agreed. ‘You expected the specific situation in a small, densely populated country to be taken into account,’ they wrote to Rummenie. ‘That was not the research assignment and is therefore not included in the report.’
Follow-up research
Rummenie has already decided to commission follow-up research. That research will not be carried out by WUR, he writes to the House of Representatives. He has asked an as yet unknown ‘international expert research party’ to look into how the wolf fits into a small and densely populated country such as the Netherlands.
Translated with DeepL
