Heartstopping footage of a wolf chasing a cyclist through the Hoge Veluwe National Park in the Netherlands has been shared widely on social media. The incident comes amid a series of complaints and reports from park visitors about the unusually tame behavior of the park's wildlife.
In the footage, the cyclist is riding down a popular bike path in the national park when a wolf jumps out of the trees and follows in close pursuit.
The coordinator of the park's Wolf Reporting Point, Glenn Lieveld, said on local radio that the animal was likely exhibiting playful behavior in response to the cyclist's movement, as wolves can run up to 38 miles per hour when chasing prey.
The fearless behavior of the wolves at the Hoge Veluwe National Park is very unusual, and local animal associations have accused the park leaders of deliberately feeding and taming the animals. The park has denied these allegations.
Hanna Pettersson, an expert in human-wildlife interactions at the University of York in the U.K., explained why this behavior is so uncommon. "Wolves do not normally constitute a danger for people, they tend to withdraw and avoid people when they notice them," she told Newsweek.
There are, however, some exceptions. In 2005, 22-year-old Kenton Joel Carnegie was killed by a pack of wolves in Northern Saskatchewan in Canada. Another incident occurred in Alaska in 2010 when 32-year-old Candice Berner was killed by wolves while out jogging.
"Wolves are extremely adaptable to both different habitats and diets, and as long as they have something to eat—be it wild animals, livestock, or garbage—they will keep breeding and expanding into increasingly human-dominated areas," Pettersson said.
She added: "This may increase the risk of them developing unwanted behaviors and adaptations, bringing them closer to humans and human resources."
In response to the recent sightings, park rangers at Hoge Veluwe have been instructed to use paintball guns to scare away the animals.
"The best approach is obviously to proactively prevent wolves from approaching human settlements by ensuring good habitat and wild game availability elsewhere, and making it hard for them to access livestock, pets, and garbage," Pettersson said. "However...this is not a long-term solution since wolves will likely keep expanding."
Using paintball guns will allow rangers to deter the animals without hurting them and to see which wolves have already been targeted.
"If the only other option on the table is to kill the pack, it may quite literally be worth a shot," Pettersson said.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more
