Shepherd shares graphic footage of suspected wolf attack

A sheep farmer has released graphic footage of a badly injured sheep that he says was left alive after a suspected wolf attack. DR reports that a wildlife consultant considers a wolf attack likely, while DNA testing is under way to confirm what happened.

Thomas Leer had to put the sheep down with a bolt gun. Its left hind leg had been eaten away and its entrails were visible, but it was still alive, he said.

Leer said the sheep was one of three he had to euthanise in this latest incident. Three days earlier, he said, the number was seven. He contacted DR because he wants people to see the injuries he says wolves leave on his sheep, particularly cases in which animals are still alive after an attack.

Nature Agency wildlife consultant Ivar Høst visited Leer and assessed the injuries. He said it was “highly likely” that a wolf was responsible. A DNA sample has been taken to provide a final answer.

DR showed the footage to two people who support allowing wolves in Denmark. Biologist and upper secondary school teacher Sofie Graarup Jensen, a wolf ambassador for the advocacy group Arternes Ambassadører, said the images were distressing but had not changed her view.

“Blaming nature for existing as it does is meaningless, although I understand that people are frustrated,” she said.

Bengt Holst, chair of the Animal Ethics Council, also said wolves should have a place in the Danish landscape. He supports having the option to manage “problem wolves” that have become too tame or repeatedly breached wolf-proof fences.

After watching the footage, Holst said predators do not always kill their prey before eating it. “That is how it happens when a predator attacks. It is harsh. But of course it is painful to watch, and I understand that,” he said.

Leer said the sheep were kept behind a fence intended to keep predators out, which he said was approved and funded by the state.

The video contains graphic images of the sheep’s injuries and its euthanasia.