Agency details final minutes before suspected problem wolf was shot

A wolf believed to be the problem wolf was shot on Thursday evening after approaching a Nature Agency employee in Blåbjerg Plantage, DR reports. Authorities have not yet established with complete certainty that it was the wolf sought for approaching people in western Jutland.

At a press conference on Friday morning, the Danish Nature Agency gave a detailed account of the events leading up to the shooting. Minister Christian Rabjerg Madsen said he believed the wolf from Nørre Nebel had been killed.

For the past several days, the agency had searched the area in the afternoons and evenings, when it believed the chances of finding the wolf were greatest. On Thursday, employees were positioned west of the Houstrup holiday-home area in Blåbjerg Plantage, where the agency owns property and is permitted to shoot the wolf.

At about 8.30pm, a drone operator spotted not one but two wolves in a dense section of forest that employees could not immediately enter. More staff were called in and positioned around the area in the hope that the wolves would eventually move.

The two wolves later walked along one of the main roads towards a holiday-home area, where a Nature Agency employee was standing at a junction, according to Mads Jensen, the agency’s deputy director.

The situation was complicated by cyclists using the gravel roads. Although it was not the peak tourist season, it was still August, and cyclists were riding behind the wolves. The presence of other people made it unsafe to fire.

As the cyclists drew closer, one wolf instinctively moved away and ran into the forest. The other continued towards the employee without changing course.

The employee directed the cyclists away. The wolf eventually came within two metres and appeared to be trying to walk around the employee. Jensen said the employee interpreted this as an attempt to continue towards the holiday-home area.

Because there was no safe angle that would protect other forest users, the employee shot the wolf from a distance of 10 metres, Jensen said.