Livestock owners receive 43.8m kroner for wolf fencing

Livestock owners in Denmark have received 43.8 million kroner in grants since 2017 to install 862 kilometres of fencing designed to keep out wolves, DR reports. The Danish Agency for Green Land Transformation and Water Environment, which administers the scheme, provided the figures to news agency Ritzau.

The fences include additional electrified wires intended to prevent wolves from getting inside enclosures and attacking animals such as sheep and lambs.

Livestock keepers have been able to apply for grants in annual funding rounds since 2017. The latest round opened on 1 September with a budget of 60 million kroner.

“Wolf-protected fencing is one of the most effective solutions for protecting livestock from wolf attacks,” Nature and Animal Welfare Minister Christian Rabjerg Madsen said recently in a press release.

More attacks as wolf population grows

Interest in the grants has increased as Denmark’s wolf population has grown. Wolves returned to Denmark in 2012, and researchers estimated that at least 49 adult wolves were living in Jutland by the end of April this year.

Authorities recorded 24 wolf attacks on livestock in 2017. The number had risen to 235 attacks last year.

Fences do not provide full protection

Wolf-protected fences are not a guarantee that wolves cannot get inside. Authorities recorded 10 attacks last year behind fences that were functioning as intended.

Peter Sunde, a professor at Aarhus University’s Department of Ecoscience, said the fences nevertheless provide good protection, although they could be improved.

“Danish wolf-protected fences provide far better protection than ordinary fences. The protection could undoubtedly be improved further by following the evidence-based standards used in Sweden,” Sunde said.

Sweden has slightly stricter requirements for wolf-protected fences than Denmark, according to Sunde. Swedish wire fences must have at least five wires, while mobile fences in Denmark can have four. This results in a smaller electrical field and greater distances between the wires, he said.

Mobile fences are not considered wolf-protected in Sweden, and their protective effect has not yet been evaluated, according to Sunde.

Livestock owners can receive compensation for losses caused by wolf attacks. A total of 3.3 million kroner was paid in compensation for livestock killed by wolves last year.

Applications for support for wolf-protected fencing can be submitted until 1 October.