Wolves in the Netherlands Feed Mainly on Wild Animals, but Also Target Grazing Cattle in Areas with Less Prey

Wolves in the Netherlands feed mainly on wild animals, but also target grazing cattle in areas with less prey

Wolves in the Netherlands mainly feed on wild animals such as wild boar and red and roe deer. But in areas such as Drenthe where these are scarce, they also prey on free-roaming cattle used for nature conservation. This is according to new research analyzing wolf scat across the country.

The herds on the Veluwe and in Drenthe mainly eat wild boar, roe deer and red deer. In the animals' droppings, researchers find only a few remains of sheep and other livestock.

That wolves eat deer and attack sheep is known from the media. In reality, the predator's menu is much more varied,...

For example, wolves in the Netherlands hardly eat sheep, but on the Veluwe they mainly feed on wild ungulates, such as roe deer, wild boar and red deer, while in Drenthe they also eat wild cattle in addition to roe deer. Researchers came to this conclusion after collecting and analyzing 735 wolf droppings. Based on prey remains […] More science? Read the latest articles on Scientias.nl .

A woman was injured on Monday after she was allegedly attacked by a wolf in Leusden, in the Dutch province of Utrecht, Dutch media reported.