A wildlife camera in the Veluwe National Park has captured the forest’s entire eight-member family of wolves — and it’s quite a sight to see. This is the first time the whole pack has been seen on film together.Â
The video shows the eight wolves trotting casually through the forest past the wildlife camera. According to the Mammal Society (Zoogdierverenigning), the footage reveals that of the nine pups born in 2019 and 2020, seven are still alive.
This means the wolves are finding plenty of food to eat, according to Mirte Kruit, regional coordinator of the wolf monitoring point (Wolvenmeldpunt). “The fact that volunteers encounter many wolf turds is very nice,” says Kruit. “This clearly shows what they mainly eat: red deer, roe deer, fallow deer and young wild boars.”
A pleasant surprise
Images this sharp are rare, and they were taken as part of a successful monitoring project by a group of volunteers from the Mammal Society. The footage came as a great surprise to the volunteers who keep an eye on the Veluwe’s wolves.
While it’s difficult to distinguish between the similar-looking wolves, the Mammal Society says that Mom is likely leading the way, followed by Dad and the youngest four boys. The two wolves that pass by moments later appear to be the adolescents born in the spring of 2019.
In total, 12 wolves live in the Netherlands. In addition to the wolves seen here, another pair lives in the southern Veluwe and two single wolves in the Midden-Veluwe and south of Eindhoven.
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Feature Image: DutchReview/Supplied