Mayor demands safer access to nature after wolf encounter

Frederikshavn Mayor Jon Andersen is calling for measures to restore people’s sense of safety in nature after a runner encountered a threatening wolf and a wolf pup at Bunken Dune Plantation. DR reported the incident.

The Agency for Green Area Transformation and Water Environment has advised people to stay away from the area until the incident has been investigated further.

Andersen welcomed the agency’s swift response but said the recommendation was not a final solution.

“We need to find out what on earth we are going to do here,” he said.

“We simply need to restore a sense of safety, so people can move safely through our nature. That applies both to residents and to visitors.”

Many people use the area, particularly during the summer, Andersen said. In Frederikshavn, the wolf’s behaviour is therefore viewed as an escalation, since it should be accustomed to people in the area.

Both the agency and wolf expert Peter Sunde, a professor at Aarhus University, believe the wolf was trying to protect its young.

“This is not simply a question of tolerating one another. We need to find a way forward and work out how to restore this sense of safety, because it simply is not there,” Andersen said.

However, the mayor said it was difficult to specify exactly what would be needed. Wolves returned to Denmark around 10 years ago.