Dossier
Wolves
After an absence of approximately 150 years, the wolf has re-established itself in the Netherlands. This dossier provides you with the latest news, background information and results of Wageningen University & Research on wolves in the Netherlands.
Wageningen University & Research monitors the return of the wolf through DNA research. Faeces that are found are tested for DNA in our labs, to determine if they are wolf-faeces, and if so, from which specific animal. To this end, we collaborate with the German research institute Senckenberg though the CEwolf-consortium. This information allows provincial governments to take substantiated decisions on their policies regarding the wolf. Most wolves in the Netherlands lead a roaming existence, but the first female wolf has now settled on the Veluwe.
Fauna consultants also extract DNA from sheep suspected to have been slain by a wolf. Our research reveals whether a wolf is indeed the predator responsible for the sheep’s death within a month: the BIJ12 website documents these instances and the DNA results (only in Dutch). Each quarter a genetic profile is generates for these cases, to enable individual identification.
This is how our research works
News about wolves
Publications about wolves
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Dominance in domestic dogs : A quantitative analysis of its behavioural measures
PLoS ONE (2015), Volume: 10, Issue: 8 - ISSN 1932-6203 -
Introduction to 1st meeting of the CEWOLF consortium
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More than fear: role of emotions in acceptability of lethal control of wolves
European Journal of Wildlife Research (2014), Volume: 60, Issue: 4 - ISSN 1612-4642 - p. 589-598. -
Dominance in domestic dogs revisited: Useful habit and useful construct?
Journal of Veterinary Behavior (2014), Volume: 9, Issue: 4 - ISSN 1558-7878 - p. 184-191. -
The first wolf found in the Netherlands in 150 years was the victim of a wildlife crime
Lutra (2013), Volume: 56, Issue: 2 - ISSN 0024-7634 - p. 93-109. -
Landscape of fear in Europe: wolves affect spatial patterns of ungulate browsing in Bialowieza Primeval Forest, Poland
Ecography (2013), Volume: 36, Issue: 12 - ISSN 0906-7590 - p. 1263-1275. -
Hemiterpenoids and Pyrazines in the Odoriferous Urine of the Maned Wolf
In: Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 12 - New York [etc.]: Springer - ISBN: 9781461459262 - p. 171-184. -
Potential for Grey wolf Canis lupus in the Netherlands : effects of habitat fragmentation and climate change on the carrying capacity and population dynamics
Wageningen: Alterra (Alterra-rapport 2349) -
Wolf Predation Among Reintroduced Przewalski Horses in Hustai National Park, Mongolia
Journal of Wildlife Management (2009), Volume: 73, Issue: 6 - ISSN 0022-541X - p. 836-843. -
Wolf, Canis lupus, avoidance behaviour of American Elk, Cervus elaphus, in Jasper National Park, Alberta
Canadian Field-Naturalist (2009), Volume: 123, Issue: 3 - ISSN 0008-3550 - p. 236-239.