A school in Amersfoort has urged parents not to let their children cycle to school alone after one of its pupils claimed he had been “surrounded” by wolves.

The boy had been on his way to the Van Lodenstein College a week ago when he encountered several wolves which he said went on to “surround him”.

According to messages on a parents’ Whatsapp group, the boy had fallen off his bike and the wolves had then “trodden on him”.

School head Gertjan van Belzen told the parents in an email the boy had come to no harm but that children should not cycle on their own in the area between the Veluwe and the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, both of which have a wolf population.

However, Maurice La Haye of animal charity Zoogdiervereniging said it would be remarkable if a group of wolves had gone for the boy at that particular location.

“Reports about the Utrechtse Heuvelrug concern a single wolf, which has been dubbed Bram. Bram is always alone and is mainly interested in walkers with dogs. And we have not seen hide nor hair of him in a month and a half,” he told the Telegraaf.

In August the provincial authorities advised pupils under 10 not to cycle in the Utrechtse Heuvelrug unaccompanied following several incidents, including one involving a three-year-old girl who had allegedly been bitten by a wolf on a school outing. Earlier a man walking his dog said a wolf had taken his dog.

A later investigation showed the wolf may have pushed her to the ground but the girl had not been bitten.

Wolf sanctuaries

Meanwhile, Utrecht province has been told it will have to find quiet areas in which wildlife, including the wolf, has a chance to thrive. “These areas are vital for biodiversity,” Partij voor de Dieren councillor Jesseka Bateau told the AD. “The arrival of the wolf is a reminder that we need to make more space for wildlife,” she said.

The proposal, backed by VOLT, PvdA, SP and GroenLInks, was passed in the provincial council by a majority of one vote. The BBB, which along with VVD, CDA and SGP voted against, is in favour of “making the Netherlands wolf-free”.

There are some 11 wolf packs in the Netherlands at the moment, latest figures from wolf monitoring body BIJ12 show plus at least two solitary wolves.