Growing wolf pack threatens North Jutland cattle farmer’s business

A cattle farmer in North Jutland fears a growing wolf population will make his business unviable after he lost calves to wolves in recent years, DR reports. A wolf pair living near Bunken Plantage, a forest, has had four pups this year.

Mikkel Kloppenborg Nielsen keeps Hereford cattle outdoors all year close to the forest. He says he has lost up to two calves to wolves in each of the past few years.

“The wolf population is growing, and if they start working together to take the animals, a lot could be lost quickly. Then it becomes too difficult to keep livestock,” he said.

The cattle graze on a nature area with small dune hills and sandy soil, making it difficult to install fencing that can keep wolves out. Wolves could jump over a fence from a dune or dig underneath it where the sand is exposed, Kloppenborg Nielsen said.

He has 22 kilometres of fencing. Burying it or making it higher could be expensive, and he doubts authorities would permit such a fence in the EU-protected nature area. He does not consider wolf-proof fencing a realistic option.

Nature and Animal Welfare Minister Christian Rabjerg Madsen has said wolf-proof fencing is one of the most effective ways to protect livestock. Other possible measures include guard dogs or a secure enclosure for the night, when wolves typically attack. Kloppenborg Nielsen said the ongoing costs of fencing or dogs would leave his operation in deficit.

He believes it should be possible to regulate the wolf population so that keeping animals on pasture remains viable. If he cannot do so, he may have to stop keeping beef cattle, he said, adding that other cattle, sheep and horse owners are considering the same.

Kloppenborg Nielsen also says grazing helps maintain habitats for threatened species. Without the cattle, the land would become overgrown, reducing habitat for insects and, in turn, amphibians and birds. Species that benefit from the grazing include the moor frog, natterjack toad, pool frog, the fully protected marsh orchid, the marsh fritillary butterfly and a dung beetle recorded at only one other location in Denmark.

DNA testing confirmed that a male wolf from Bunken Plantage killed one of his calves. DR said it had asked the Agency for Green Land Conversion and Aquatic Environment what Kloppenborg Nielsen should do to protect his cattle and whether the wolf should take priority over the moor frog, but had not received a response.