A total of 41 sheep were killed in Ede in Gelderland in a suspected attack by one or more wolves in the early hours of Thursday, Ede local council has said.

The flock of 88 sheep were grazing on a piece of heathland in the Noord-Ginkel area. They were protected by a wolf-proof fence which had been checked the previous day, the council said.

Wim Brouwer, chairman of the local branch of farming organisation LTO, said the type of injuries found on the sheep, some of which had to be put down by a vet,  pointed to an attack by a wolf or wolves.

Wolves have made their home in Gelderland and it is not the first time sheep have been killed in attacks in the area, provincial wildlife agency BIJ12 said. DNA samples have been taken to show if wolves were behind this latest attack.

Attacks by wolves are becoming more common in the Netherlands, figures from BIJ12 quoted by RTL Nieuws have shown.

The agency received some 267 reports of attacks in the first three months of this year compared to 77 in the same period in 2023. The total for that year was 322 attacks.

Nine out of10 of the attacks took place where animals were grazing without any fencing or other measures to protect them against wolves.

According to a recent survey, the growing presence of wolves is making them more unpopular.  A quarter of the population say they would avoid visiting parts of the country where wolves are known to live, according to a survey by research bureau Motivaction on behalf of the agriculture ministry.

The incident comes after a wolf reported nipped a little girl who was on a school outing at the Den Treek estate in Utrecht where a wolf pair are known to have cubs. The estate has since been closed to the public.

The Utrecht branch of farmers party BBB said shooting “problem wolves” is the only solution and has called for the wolf’s current protected status to be lowered. They also want to bring in measures to scare the wolves away, such as the use of paintball guns.

Court battle

The use of paintballs was banned by a court in Gelderland earlier this year. It was the latest step in a long-running stand-off between provincial authorities and conservationists, who argue that the real problem is with tourists using food to lure the wolves close enough to be photographed

Wolf behaviour expert Diederik van Liere said the incidents should lead to a “sort of volunteer fire service” which could be trained to chase off wolves in cases of sightings. “That will teach the wolves not to approach people and is the best solution in the long run,” he told broadcaster NOS.