Several pony camps canceled for fear of the wolf

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“This is really the outing that the children look forward to all year round,” says Anneke Bosma, chairman of Poptaruters Dronryp. Her association has been organizing a pony camp in Zwiggelte, a village in the province of Drenthe, for 25 years. But this year it won’t happen.

“Because the wolf has been spotted in the area, the risk is too great. The problem is as follows: horses are flight animals. If a horse smells or sees a wolf, it starts running.” With the risk of stampeding horses, Bosma says it is not responsible to walk with children in the area.

Roelof Bos, owner of an accommodation in Drenthe, tells RTL News that seven pony camps at his location have been canceled. “One is still booked, but he is still in doubt. We no longer dare to do evening or night activities. The damage as a result is at least 150,000 euros.”

Nine wolf packs

The wolf is a protected species and is increasingly spotted in various areas in the Netherlands. According to BIJ12, the agency that keeps track of wolf populations for the provinces, there are currently nine wolf packs living in the Netherlands.

Seven packs live on the Veluwe, the other two in Central Drenthe and the Drenthe-Frisian region. In Drenthe there are a number of established wolves, which means they have their own territory, and a number of wandering wolves. Because wolves are able to spread quickly, they can also be spotted in an area where they do not necessarily live.

Sheep attacked

The presence of the wolf also meant that Wiebeke Frens could no longer give pony lessons to children at her horse breeding farm. “Nobody knows what the possible problems could be,” says Frens. “But sheep have already been attacked here and there and after a while the attacks become more and more gruesome. Last summer the wolf was also frequently seen, which made us fearful. What do you do when you are in the woods with the children and the wolf comes then?”

Ultimately, Frens chose to stop giving lessons because she did not want to risk dangerous situations for the children. “Many people in the area no longer dare to put their sheep outside, for example. A pleasant part of the countryside is disappearing as a result.”

Wolf expert Glenn Lelieveld of the Mammal Society understands people’s fear of the animal, but he would not take the decision to cancel a pony camp for this. “If you go into the forest with children in this way, the chance that a wolf will approach it is very small. The sound of the children will most likely scare the wolf away.” According to Lelieveld, wolves also do a lot to avoid being spotted.

Small chance of danger

Lelieveld estimates that the chance that the ponies will be frightened by the wolves and that a dangerous situation will arise is small. “In general, ponies are not fearful animals. I can imagine that only ponies that are not fearful are used at these types of camps.”

Wolf expert Erwin van Maanen of the ecological research agency EcoNatura also agrees. He states that the fear is understandable because of the wolf’s attacks on other animals. But he also says that the wolf does not easily show itself and that it is more of a coincidence if the animal is spotted. “The chance that a wolf will do something crazy against a pony crowd is already small. Dogs chasing ponies is a greater risk. And I know from my own experience that a wolf is more afraid of me than I am of him.”