Belgium sees birth of first wild wolf cubs in 150 years
BELGIANS are celebrating the safe arrival of the country’s first wild wolf cubs in more than 150 years, after introducing some of the strictest protection laws in the world.
The first pictures of the four cubs born to parents August and Noella in the Flemish countryside brought a happy ending to the story of the return of the wolf to Belgium.
Conservationists accused hunters of shooting dead the first wild wolf in Belgium for more than a century in rural Limburg, an area close to the Dutch border, in September 2019, after the pregnant wolf, Naya, had killed sheep.
Naya crossed into Flanders in January 2018 and was later joined by August and became pregnant before going missing in May last year. Conservationists claimed to have received death threats for Naya from hunters, who deny any responsibility for its death and shoot wild boar in the area.
Despite a £27,000 reward for information about the death in September, Naya’s carcass has never been found.
August found a partner again when Noella arrived in Belgium in December. After Noella, which was named after the Christmas season, became pregnant, authorities swung into action to ensure there would not be a repeat of Naya’s death. Poachers faced up to five years in prison and a half a million euro fine as Flanders introduced strict new laws. Authorities revoked hunting licences, and the army banned hunting on its land.
The coronavirus lockdown increased the cubs’ chances, but rangers remain on high alert. The animals were born in May and their location has been kept secret.
The animal was hunted to extinction in 1897 in Belgium, which was the last country on continental Europe to report a sighting of the resurgent species.