Agency estimates 200,000-kroner cost to shoot western Jutland wolf

The Danish Nature Agency estimates that around 250 staff hours, worth approximately 200,000 kroner, were spent shooting a wolf near Nørre Nebel in western Jutland, DR reported.

The estimate was included in a parliamentary response from Minister for Nature and Animal Welfare Christian Rabjerg Madsen of the Social Democrats, after questions from Venstre MP Anni Matthiesen.

The wolf was shot on the evening of 13 August after several incidents in which it had approached and sought out people. A Nature Agency employee shot it from a distance of 10 metres.

The Nature Agency said the 250 staff hours were used between 6 and 14 August. However, it stressed that no detailed time records had been kept for the operation, meaning the figure was an estimate.

Rabjerg Madsen said he was pleased the wolf had been shot and that the financial cost was secondary to public safety.

“For me, the financial costs of managing a problem wolf are secondary. The safety of citizens comes first, and I am pleased that people in Nørre Nebel can now move around safely again without fear of the problem wolf,” he said in the response.

The Nature Agency said no new equipment had been purchased for the operation. Employees spent more than a week searching for the wolf, including with thermal drones.

The Agency for Green Land Transition and Water Environment said it first became aware in January of observations of a wolf displaying inappropriate behaviour in the Oksbøl area. It said there was no separate time registration for work linked to the specific wolf around Oksbøl and Houstrup near Nørre Nebel, but estimated that at least one full-time position had been spent on the task since January 2026.

The authorities said they were convinced the wolf was the so-called problem wolf because it was shot at close range and did not show particular wariness towards Nature Agency employees.

In Denmark, the term problem wolf is used for wolves displaying unwanted or problematic behaviour, such as failing to show natural wariness towards people. The Agency for Green Land Transition and Water Environment says a wolf may be shot after an assessment of the specific case, including whether it poses a danger to people, enters urban areas despite attempts to scare it away, attacks livestock or dogs, or lacks instinctive wariness towards humans.