The Dutch story of Shrek is coming alive in front of our eyes: the furry, albeit, scary wolf is trying to build a friendship with the Dutchies — and they’re reaching for some interesting weapons.
Wolves in Gelderland are ready to take their relationship with humankind to the next level — but it looks like we are not there yet.
And how do the Dutch plan on communicating this to Mr Wolf? A paintball gunfight!
The goal is simple: make the wolf hate us enough to never come closer again than 30 metres, the NOS reports.
Too close to home
A tame wolf was recently seen next to a family in the Hoge Veluwe, and the internet went crazy.
We all know that after we put a fence around a forest and call it a National park, it belongs to humans, so it is time to inform the wolf about this as well.
The decision to have a one-sided paintball fight was made last week:
“We are dealing with a wolf who is too tame. So we have to scare him off,” a spokesperson tells Omroep Gelderland. (The paintballs sound ideal for that, indeed! 🙃)
Not everyone is into paint guns
Park director Van Voorst tot Voorst of De Hoge Veluwe National Park is not so happy with the idea, he would rather just see the tame wolves captured or killed.
“They want to scare the animals, so they don’t attack people. It’s a fake solution [so they don’t have to say]: shoot the wolf,” says Van Voorst tot Voorst.
READ MORE: Schattig! Wolf cubs spotted in the Netherlands
The Faunabescherming claims the park management has willfully caused wolves to get tame, which would also explain why the park management would prefer capturing or shooting the wolves (and not with paint): the park management would just want to get rid of the wolves.
Creating tame wolves would be the first step leading to capturing or killing. The park management has denied these allegations.
The National Park says they have zero interest in tame wolves — but we have to admit, paintballs sound a bit nicer than the alternative.
What do you think of this method? Tell us in the comments!