Wild wolves return to Belgium after 100 years, sparking controversy - BBC News
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Wolves have settled in Belgium for the first time in more than 100 years - raising concerns among livestock owners.
Wolves were once widely hunted in Europe and folklore suggests the last wolf in Belgium was shot by the nation's King Leopold II in the 1890s.
Estimates vary but around 15 to 20 wolves are currently thought to be in the country, with one pack in Flanders plus another in southern Wallonia, as well as a newly settled pair.
Dietary analysis in the area has found that the wolves mainly eat roe deer and wild boar. But around 15% of their diet is livestock - which is causing concern among farmers.
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The tragic thing is that us humans think we've more right to land and nature than the wild animals that live there. So much that people get upset when a wild species we wiped out in a place returns and start living there again.
No one has any rights to any land. If you can take it you just take it. That's what both people and animals do. Species that can't survive simply go extinct and there is nothing wrong with it. The only reason why humanity is concerned with animals at all is that their extinction threatens our own demise.
@Petr Orlov I think the view that nature is where we came from and is the all sustaining mother is quite hard to remove from the human conscious.
Cuz humanity is entitled af
@@petrorlov2599 false
@@SeekerofTruths You'd hope, but sometimes I'm not so sure... Some people are so far removed from their own origins, they know nothing.
To be honest it's really cool to have wild wolves back in Europe.
In Holland we have about 25 now people are feeding them sandwiches with ham. Shy wolves are an evolutionairy proces. The brave wolvens have shot the kast centuries. The coward wolvespass on their genes.and now we are feeding wolf like a touristic attraction and creating problem wolves . Witvis 10 years the first KID or granny will be eaten
Until they bite down on your leg.
Untill you get mulled by one
@@asmith9140 livestock only makes up 15% of their diet, much prefer wild food like deer
@@asmith9140 common misconception is that wolves are creatures that would hunt humans. They are very flighty animals, and will always avoid human contact if they can help it. I work with captive wolves who are semi habituated but even they are very flighty around humans and have never shown signs of aggression.
We've had them back in Denmark for a few years now, not big numbers but they range over the majority of the mainland. We've been farming here for 8 generations - a little more vigilance during calving but otherwise it's just incredible to know that we haven't totally destroyed the nature we live in, if they come - it's because they belong here.. They're better for the ecosystem than we are, so losing a weak calf or old sick cow (they don't take the first thing they see) does good for the genes and the herd. If we lost 5 or 10 in a season, maybe that perspective would change but 1 or 2 is worth it to see them, even just knowing they're there without seeing them.. Had a sea eagle announce its presence and sit on the barn for a bit - again, the experience is priceless and probably made me feel as connected to this place, as the 7 generations before me that I visit in the church overlooking us.
Denmark is a beautiful country. I visited last summer and absolutely loved the place.
This is very positive, thanks for sharing!
Have you considered livestock guardian dogs? I know a lot of people in the states who use them to keep away coyotes, wolves, bears and lynxes. They tell me even if the dogs never actually fought off anything, the peace of mind was worth it.
@@kirani111 We have, we've had working dogs in past generations, hunting dogs as well. Ultimately it's not about keeping them away, so much as learning to live with them. A working dog costs twice as much to feed a suitable diet for a year as a healthy cow can sell for. There's no point risking either the life of a perfectly good boy or reducing what tiny range the wolf has (we don't have vast swathes of forest, we have tiny spits and dots of it) over a minor inconvenience. Having a guard dog just for show is not really what farmers here go for, so one has to expect that animal to perform the task (same way buying a gun for self defence can have unintended consequences but the intention is that it be used if needed), so it wouldn't just keep a wolf or two away but also the foxes and badges, likely grab a baby hare or deer that's hiding in the grass, assuming it didn't catch something viral from fighting with them or just run away with them and join the circus.
@@kirani111 Problem with dogs vs wolves is that a wolf will only leave if it's outnumbered, so you'll need multiple dogs. If it's a pack of wolves they'll attack and kill or injure the dogs if there's less dogs than wolves. A pack of 6 wolves needs 8-10 dogs to walk away f ex. Acquisition, food, hours of training, insurance and vet bills would be astronomical (I don't know what it's like in Denmark, but insurance and vet bills are insane in Sweden.) Plus, here you're liable for any harm a dog does and those types of dogs used against wolves are more aggressive to humans than other types of dogs, so that's an added risk too with fines/prison if they ever bite/kill a vet or someone else.
I understand the genuine frustration of the farmers, it's a difficult situation. However, even as the son of ranchers, I would rather deal would wolf attacks than the outright, irreversible, extinction of them.
I don't think theyre that close to extinction
Why doesn't he get sheep dogs to guard his flocks at night? It worked for thousands of years but farmers have gotten lazy and complacent in wolves absence. If they put the effort in to adapt to the wolves presence they will do just fine.
@@ross335 Perhaps EU should create a fund for it. Every farmer that has a wolf problem gets financial coverage for the cost of buying 15 guard dogs, the food and the vet bills along with a change of laws so the farmer won't get heavy fines or prison if the dogs injures or kills a human in some accident. It would still be a lot of work added for farmers, but at least the financial burden would be carried by those that created the problem.
@@zeroheroes4081 15 guard dogs? How many sheep they have? One Maremma sheepdog every 100 sheep with a minimum of four (in areas with the presence of large packs of wolves, otherwise a minimum of three). That's the rate used in Italy, that's where those wolves are coming from, and sheep are usually not fenced.
@@zeroheroes4081 these programs already exist. You can ask for a grand for a puppy because it's the cheapest and by far most efficient way to protect the farm animals.
I'm from Belgium and I live on the edge of wolf territory. I have 2 horses and a pony and I'm happy the wolf is back. Lots off ppl with farm animals are looking for a way to live with wolves, but only the haters are heard in the media, because they are the agressive ones. Info sessions about how to live with wolves are canceled, because the haters say they will harm the speakers. Ppl from the wolve fencing teams get death treats. If I speak up for the wolves, I get hate on social media and ppl want me to lose my animals in an attack.
Wolf fencing works, but many ppl don't do it right and blame the fence if it fails. Or you can put gard dogs among your farme animals, ppl do that all over the world when they live in wolf territory. It's sad to see how much airtime the no wolf ppl get, just because they shut up the pro wolf ppl with their agression toward us.
Hope you meet a wolf
@@djbbdfggh, I've met wolves a year ago and it was magical. Can't wait to see them again.
I love wolves and brown bears.
After the wolf we must reintroduce brown bears. they are very friendly and less aggressive than grizzly’s
@@sandraverlinden2442 have you fattened up ready for them.
@@punishedgloyperstormtroope8098 introducing a non-native bear wouldn't be a good idea. There are European bear species that still exist though.
The introduction of 14 wolves to the yellow stone park not only increased the the abundance of life there, it changed the direction of the rivers. Wolves are dangerous, but so is not having them.
I think I remember hearing about this. Didn't it allow more trees to grow, reduced the over population of deer and as you said allowed natural terrain to flourish and change
@@TheDangoNinja Yeah. The vegetation stabilised the banks of the river so they didn’t flood allowing animals to move in to habitats that otherwise would not exist.
Comparing yellow stone park to the nature in belgium is so dumb. They have too little living space in belgium and the netherlands.
Changed the direction of the river? Did you dump their corpses in there? 🤔
@@connorqb1241 my point was not a comparison. It was that the introduction of wolves will have larger consequences than can be conceived.
There are dog breeds that contain the word "shepherd" for a reason.
Could also get some donkeys to keep watch as well. The cattle farmers in Europe could easily minimize their animal losses if they wanted to.
theres a turkish breed that can fight off wolves specifically
there is even a dog breed called the belgium shepherd xD
Great Pyrenees and Maremma also.
Wolves have been around in the Netherlands as well, since 2019. A pack of nine wolves was spotted last month in NP De Veluwe.
that is amazing, everyone knows that nature in the netherlands is completely screwed up by a post-war mismanagement, wanting to have too much control over nature.
I've visited the Netherlands a year ago and I wonder where these animals managed to find the suitable habitat for themself there. There is almost no forests in this country only farms and plantations
@@Peter_Capszyk that is why I dont think they have a place here. btw....I love wolves!
@@Peter_Capszyk Depends where you are in the country. The Veluwe is the biggest lowland natural area in Northwestern Europe and is roughly 1000km2. Plenty of space for multiple packs.
Wild boars and hogs cause immense damage to land when they’re rooting for food and will eat anything they think is edible. Wolves will help keep the balance
That's one biased opinion of a one way looking at it human. Every Animal contributes. Including the Wild Boars.
pigs build their birthing nests, they kill off abundant, dominant tree seedlings, but often leave rarer local species undisturbed. The disproportionate damage increases overall tree diversity. And Grazing can also revitalize stimulated soil.
Yes, they root through it, exposing soil allowing seeds to settle in the ground.
Not when they get into farm land and eat and destroy crops
@@ydnallah1541 Just like greedy farmers expanding an grazing filleds in unatural way? Stop expanding. The isn't only for humans. They said the same thing about deer. Growing populations of deer are often blamed for damaging forest habitats by overgrazing on tender plants. But new research suggests that they may be helping certain forest critters, including salamanders, snakes and invertebrates like slugs and ground-dwelling insects.
Researchers found fewer numbers of crawlies in areas where deer were excluded than where they roamed. Seems Nature knows more than your selfish ass.
@@ydnallah1541
Wolves don't eat crops...
I love how the reporter portrays the wild boar killing as if it was a tragic thing when in reality, boars, red and roe deer are main the natural prey of wolves in europe. Boar themselves can have a strong negative impact on the ecosystem when their natural predators (wolves) aren't present to limit their numbers and scare them. Of course, boars, like every native species, also play an important role in the wild ecosystems of europe, spreading seeds, turning the soil and creating holes in the ground that other smaller species need to feed or grow but if they themselves are not food for their predators, they can become extremely damaging for native rare plants, birds that nest on the ground, some insects, etc.
The irony is that boars are often accused of being destructive towards human crops and lawns so hunters say they need to kill them to keep them in check but as soon as a wolf does their job, it's painted as savage and cruel and need to be exterminated.
If we want to be able to coexist with native species and have healthier wildlife around us of future generations, we need to tolerate big animals and predators such as wolves and help the people that deal with these species with strong financial and logistical support so that they can live alongside them. It's extremely easy to do, especially in rich european countries. The sad reality is that money isn't distributed where it should and the wrong people (and animals) get the blame.
I'm constantly confused by films like this where they talk like it's a tragedy when a predator catches some animal, and they show it as an amazing victory when like, a gazelle escapes from a cheetah or something. But like... that's how nature works. Yeah, a gazelle survived, the slowest, weakest one of the hundred in its herd. And now the cheetah is tried and still hungry, and her cubs are still hungry too. Victorious music playing over starving kittens.
I have to disagree with the bit about money being distributed where it should though. It doesn't need to be distributed, it needs, just like nature, to be left alone. Farmers get plenty of money because they produce stuff that everyone needs. We (namely governments) need to stop taking that money away for redistribution purposes and let them use it to make their farming better. That way it distributes through the economy, helping the fence builders, the material suppliers, the manufacturers, etc, and all their families, without filtering through political pockets every time it changes hands.
@@TheOtherGuys2 Yeah that's essentially what I meant by better distribution of money. Farmers who have to deal with the presence of predators need monetary help from the government in order to coexist with wild predators. Right now, they complain because the subsidies they receive when one of their animals is killed by a wolf or bear doesn't cover the entirety of the costs of raising and profiting from the animal that just got eliminated from their livestock.
@@Usulcardo Fair enough. I admit I get a little wary around the term "redistributing money" and things like that. :P
@@TheOtherGuys2 Indeed, we watch this and shed a tear for the little prey (while eating tender lamb chops or veal).
Feel sorry for the farmers but this is their natural land, not farm animals.
good wolves return to there homelands❤
That’s how I see it too! 😊
WOLVES! WOLVES! WOLVES!
This is beautiful I wish more wild animals would return to their natural habitat
More wolves and bears should be in Europe 🙂🙂✌️💚💚
How would you feel about lions roaming about freely? They used to be indigenous to mainland Europe and the UK, too.
If they stop encroaching on wild land, strengthen their fencing (electric or taller etc), and allow for nature to bring back a missing link…
There will be a return of other species and flora/fauna. In the US they even discovered that wolves adjusted other prey species migration and eating habits; ultimately changing where creeks and rivers flowed.
what works best to protect herds from wolves are livestock guardian dogs. when they're around, the wolves choose something else to hunt.
Exactly. If you can bring back even wonky species, it can open the door for many others to return as well. Britain hopes to do the same as well and we could very well have Wolves back in the UK within the decade.
myb some boy scouts made waffles while camping and those wolves smelled them🥁
No friend, we live by the shoot, shovel and shut up law here. Wrong freaking wolves that were never native here, ever. They eat and kill for pleasure not just for food. We discovered the 3 sss's take care of these issues in parts where they shouldn't be. We already have more cougars per sq. mile than any where in the world by a huge margin. We used to have timber wolves, not giant canadian eating machines. There is a massive difference.
Sure bring them back. Now legalise gun ownership.
Q city folk meltdown.
There are things such as wolf proof fences. He just doesn’t want to spend the money. However the government could do a better job of offering subsidies to farmers/ranchers to build those fences. There is a solution but someone has to pay for it.
You get subsidies from the government in Belgium if you have life stock and you can ask the help of the wolf fencing team. But most farmers don't contact the fencing team and don't look up how to build a safe fence, because the don't want the wolf in Belgium. They hope the government will stop protect the wolves so they can be killed again. You have no idea how aggressive the no wolf movement is in Belgium.
@Sandra Verlinden not as aggressive as a wolf.
@@djbbdfggh, threatening to kill ppl because they defend wolves is normal in your eyes? A wilf only does what's needs to be done to stay alive. Human can live together with wolves without killing them. The agression from ppl is far worse
@@sandraverlinden2442 they will be shot again 😂😂😂
@@sandraverlinden2442 I love wolves but thats not true. Wolves will kill complete herds if they can. fenced in sheep are perfect pray and they will kill them all if possible.
That’s such good news that the wolves are back!
1:53 maybe these farmers complaining about insufficient compensation need to actually protect their lifestock a bit. if fences are not working on wolves or too expensive then perhaps a large herding/shepherd dog like a *kangal* might prove useful
Bring back more of the earth's wild creatures!
This is fantastic news
The farmers just need to go back to the old methods of flock protection. Donkeys are very good as guard dogs for sheep, as are llama/alpaca. Then there is a the good old fashioned method of keeping a shepherd with the flock.
That's wonderful, they're such a vital part of our European ecosystem.
It's great. We have to realise that we need to share this planet with other life. Can't have everything our own way.
Wolves were an important part of their ecosystems in the past and their reintroduction into their traditional habitats will even up the balance.
I understand the problems faced by farmers, and pet owners, but humans have encroached on wild animal habitats to the detriment of our environment.
The Yellowstone National Park is an interesting example of how Wolves positively affect their environment. For sure politics will come into it in more populated areas. But wolves are a needed part of the ecosystem. Here’s an interesting video on it- ua-cam.com/video/ysa5OBhXz-Q/v-deo.html
Screw the controversy, these things are cool as hell
It's going to take one attack against a human for the legal shit to hit the fan.
I love Belgium
Love you too Kucho Joe
Wolves 🐺 taking back their lands i believe is beautiful.
If my Siberian Husky can hop an 8 foot fence then so can a hungry wolf
Good playmates for your kids on country jaunts.
Great news.
Indeed
If farmers can find away to protect livestock, then wolves will drive down the invasive wild boar population, which would be very beneficial. Canada and US have huge wolf and coy-wolf populations and manage to have successful agriculture too. In fact, we reintroduce wolves wherever they are missing in the ecosystem. It’s all about balance.
I like the wolves
They have marvellously fearsome teeth!
Yup same story in the everglades with the panther.
Over here we have the close relative of the wolf, the Politicus Lupus, who preys on the hard working honest citizen. They’re mostly a pest, and almost nobody wants them, but they are very resilient.
I wish we had them in Britain
Farmers : Let's use chemicals and pesticides by the tonnes!
Also Farmers : Wolf bad for us!
Over in Europe, they are a little bit more modest about using pesticides and herbicides. At least compared to the United States and Canada.
Wolves and humans co-existed for centuries. Then humans decided they couldn;t co-exist with them and wiped them out. Wolves are only returning to land that used to be their habitat,too.
yes, exactly
We've had wild wolves in Poland since forever and they have not attacked a single person in 100 years,
we also have a record number of wild European bison's
How many Polish sheep have been attacked in the last 100 years?
@@danidejaneiro8378 as if that'd be a crucial argument.
@@monetum1392 - it’s literally what the whole video was about derp lol
People are more important than the environment for some
As other have pointed out europe has a big problem with hard to controll wild boar populations that destroy milions worth of farmer crops, even relatively small wolf populations help keep them in check and bring some much needed balance
Feel like its about balance and time since extinction. If the wolves provide some ecological benefit then its worth to have them back, but if its been long enough that their role is no longer needed, then you'll just have them hunting livestock to survive.
It doesn't have to revolve around us selfish humans, so true ❤
Fabulous love it. Nature is immense.
My Spirit Animal Wolf 🐺😍
Your spirit animal is some Gey bird
They returned probably because they ran out of food.
We need to get planting trees in Scotland and get wolves back here. There is plenty of space for them and there are wild deer packs for them to hunt. I'm sure money can be raised to partly refund farmers for any losses. But farming is frankly a tiny part of our economy and eco-tourism can be far higher and the need to protect our nation into the future from global warming also matters.
I saw one yesterday in a bush near my house in the Netherlands. It scared the crap out of me.
They're harmless unless maybe if you show weakness by running away.
Holy shit we complain we don't have them we complain when we do, this world is fucked man.
Oh poor human cant live beside nature. So sad.
In the U.S. it has led to healthier ecosystems. Wild Boars are more dangerous than wolves.
Hopefully the UK next. Farmers simply need to get better fences for their livestock. If a fence can stop a dog it can stop a wolf. Also, other countries have managed to coexist with wolves and even bears just fine, so people complaining here are just lazy.
livestock guardian dogs. One Maremma sheepdog every 100 sheep with a minimum of four (in areas with the presence of large packs of wolves, otherwise a minimum of three). That's the rate used in Italy, that's where those wolves are coming from, and sheep are usually not fenced.
That farmer at min 2:03 can get some fences and some dogs and he'd be fine. I see no dogs around his sheep and not even a fence.
This Earth doesnt belong to us, we have to learn to share it with other creatures or suffer the repercussions from it.
sounds like wolves can take care of the wild boar issues. nice!
Do you mean western Europe?
Farmers need better de fences , but they complain that it won't work because they are lazy and/or don't always have enough money for adequate improvements
There are parts of b.c. canada wolf's have been seen which haven't been seen in 50 years crazy
Reforestation would help the animals and humans.
Any worried farmers should adopt some Great Pyrenees or similar herding bred and job done, wolves can do their thing and you do yours. There is a balanced solution to be had.
Let them be! Just make sure the insurance companies pay the real amount of compensations for eaten animals by wolfs.
There are a lot of wild boars in that region, also rabbits, etc, so wolves are likely to find the proper quantities of food. The sheep can be protected, for example with those turkish dogs
What episode of wolf pack is this?
Wolves and other large carnivores cool the climate. When there’s wolves in a forest then saplings can become trees and forests grow.
You can't have predator unless you have it's prey.
But it works the other way. Just like in yellowstone Park, too many prey items eat and destroy the landscape, foliage etc. It's a perfect balance and needs an area that's left alone by man.
I seem to remember that there was a big to-do from ranchers when they reintroduced the wolf back to Yellowstone.
C'est positif parce que ça nous enrichit. Quand on se promène en forêt et qu'on croise une faune variée, c'est formidable.
Sure the EU environmentalists say the wolfs have a right to exist but wait until the first adult or child is killed by a wolf pack, the reactions will revert back 100 years.
They returned to the Netherlands too. Much to the delight 😅 of sheep farmers and other animal lovers…
Loss of livestock is a challenge for any farmer anywhere in the world. You can't be "angry" at the wolves for killing livestock - it is their natural instinct as a predator. Expecting them to "turn vegan" just because you're there with your sheep ain't going to happen. I sympathise with farmers but the thing is, unpopular as this may sound, humans are and have always been the "invasive species" in this situation. What would have once been a forested/wilderness area, where wildlife would thrive is now farm land and since you can't instruct wolves (or lions or jackals or any other natural predators) that they are not allowed to touch farm livestock, the onus is on the farmer(s) and government(s) to ensure measures are in place to be able to co-exist. Even then, there may still be loss to livestock and that is something that would need to be either accepted or consider a new career. Driving a species to near extinction over a false sense of entitlement to it's natural habitat is never acceptable.
Wolves provide balance in the ecosystem.
Little chance of this happening in the uk , with half a million homes needing to be built every year...
To be perfectly blunt these majestic beasts were here before us humans so they deserve to be here more than us
Predation is a healthy part of nature.
How did they get to Belgium?
From France, and in France from Italy. Italian protection scheme, since mid '70s had been very successful and the expanding wolves population begun migrating from Italy to France in early '90s.
@@neutronalchemist3241 Germany and Poland mainly.
They were there before you. Get over it.
Destroy Lonely droppin the song "If Looks Could Kill" really had a major impact in those wolves hearts
🗣️💯🔥🐺
I understand the sheep keepers, but if you look for "sheep theft UK" you will find tens of cases with sometimes 100 or 200 stolen sheep. We don't read much about that, while the problem is soaring and unless they are insured I don't think the farmers get compensated for theft.
The farmer has been doing the herding sheep for a long time
1:32
Wolves are incredible.
Wolves are beautiful they need to thrive and live like us too.Without our wildlife to see we have nothing has wildlife and animals are natural nothing like some beastie humans
They’ve been around for a while now
I understand that wild boars are a problem in Europe. Why would you be upset over the advance of their principle predator?
We always had wild wolves in Bulgaria.
nature is healing
wolves are dangerous but there's a reason they exist and they are vital for our ecosystem
Not that dangerous, at least for humans.
The last documented death of a human to a wolf attack in Europe had been in 19th century in the Balkans.
Every year, in Svitzerland, a dozen hikers are killed by cows.
We need to do this in Britain too.
And bears as well
I love that last comment about animals just having a right to exist regardless of whether or not we find them useful.
Good
Now we will get to see more werewolf movies this year🎉
Wolves usually come in packs and force their system until all the sheep comply. Welcome to Belgium.
Bizarre, if it was to counter deer or boar fair enough as boar populations are a big problem in Spain and other parts of Europe.like the boars they have to be managed farmers need to be able to protect their livelihood. In Spain wolves attack sheep for fun and are now protected in the Rioja region, they don't kill to eat most of the time just bite the leg and leave it to die for infection. So wolves grow the attacks increase the Shepard's spend more on big dogs and more sheep the cycle goes on. Not to mention how a farmer gets rid of his sheep in the hills? You can't bury it the dogs will get it, burn it? Well that's time consuming and tedious; So you either find a tree to throw it up for crows or down a cave out of reach of dogs etc. That's the reality news that won't show.
The people in the comments want one side of the truth only....the rosy side😏
Humans not wolves are the worst predators
Guardian dogs are needed back with the flocks old tricks are the best tricks
Bless them🙏🏻✨💚🕊️🌎
Yep luv those puppers haha.
Livestock guardian dogs for farmers.....wolves would really rather avoid getting into fights and risking injury just to get at a sheep. Many who started using them in the states find it to be a much more efficient way of protecting livestock than keep shooting the wolves/coyotes who just keep getting replaced anyway.
Why doesn’t the Government introduce ‘wild sheep’ so the wolves don’t take the farmers sheep? 😮
Too much grazing, trampling the ground, could have a negative effect on the surrounding ecosystem, especially if the species is not native.
Introducing more food for the wolves would just make their numbers grow even more, and then the problem gets worse.
There is a problem with deer populations becoming too large and damaging the flora,so tuck into that joint of venison!
Because 'sheep' (wild or otherwise) are not native species to Europe. They evolved in the Levant to the North East corner of Africa (Iraq, Palestine, Egypt).
So they have no place in Europe as free roaming animals if we want to restore our wildernesses and forests naturally.
Anyway, there are plenty of deer all over Europe and wolves would go hunt those if European farmers weren't making it so unbelievably easy for them to hunt their sheep instead.
Packing a low-fenced field with slow, silly, fleece-burdened meat machines when there are wolves around - is like leaving a bar of chocolate in an unlocked drawer beside my desk.
It's history.
'wulf' 🥰
Good for Belgium
Wolves are integral to our planets health and recovery. Stopping it is a mistake and the benefit far outweigh the negatives.
Wow... the *Circle of Life* ○