Animal protection group Faunabescherming has asked judges to prevent rangers shooting with paintball guns at a wolf which does not appear to be scared of people in the Ermelo region. 

Last week, judges at Gelderland court granted the province a licence to use paintball guns if the animal approaches people or comes too close to them. 

But Faunabescherming argues that the wolf has posed no problems so far and says the province would be going beyond its remit to harass a protected species without first establishing if there is a “problem situation”. 

In addition, they argue, there is “no evidence at all” that the pain a paintball pellet will inflict will scare off the wolf. Instead, they say, it would be better to fit the animal with a tracker which would enable its whereabouts to be monitored. 

In addition, measures should be taken against the people who encouraged the wolf to approach them by feeding it, they say. 

The permit, which is valid for 18 months, allows paintballs to be used to scare the wolf away, but only by trained professionals who have a connection with the area and can be on the scene quickly.