Wolves Among Us- The Societal and Ecological Implications of the Wolf's Comeback to the Netherlands

Eijck, Thijs van (2023) Wolves Among Us- The Societal and Ecological Implications of the Wolf's Comeback to the Netherlands. Bachelor's Thesis, Biology.

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Abstract

With the revival of the wolf (Canis lupus) in the Dutch anthropogenic landscape, human-wolf conflicts are increasing. Livestock is attacked frequently and initiates societal debates in the country. Because of their protected status in Europe, wolves cannot be killed or captured, only in exceptional cases. The species will in all likelihood be part of Dutch nature for a while. The consequences of the wolf’s comeback for nature and society will be addressed in this paper. By comparing data about Dutch wolves and case studies from other countries about wolf preferences, activity and ecological impacts, I aim to get a better understanding of the potential effects on the Dutch landscape and society. For this, I made use of the Dutch website Bij12.nl, which gathers data about wolves in the Netherlands, and related papers about wolf impacts on other countries. I found that positive ecological effects have been observed in these countries. For the Dutch situation, ecological effects are probably highly dependent on regional differences in habitat. I expect human-dominated regions, which are abundant in the Netherlands, to notice little ecological effects from wolf presence. Meanwhile, my expectation is that these same regions will likely suffer more from livestock predation and thus have more wolf-human conflicts. In contrast, for larger unfragmented woodland areas, such as the Veluwe, I predict more ecosystem changes due to wolf presence, provided wildlife management is regulated. A

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis)
Supervisor name:	Smit, C.
Degree programme:	Biology
Thesis type:	Bachelor's Thesis
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	27 Sep 2023 07:58
Last Modified:	27 Sep 2023 07:58
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/31472

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