Dutch court bans paintball guns for wolves

A Dutch court has rejected a plan to control the country's growing wolf population by shooting at the animals with paintball guns to scare them away.

A local court ruled that officials had not justified their decision to use the novel approach as a safe way to teach the wolves to stay out of populated areas. It said authorities had not carried out enough research into other possible solutions.

Nature conservation society Fauna Protection had objected to the plan, arguing it was unclear if the paintballs could seriously harm the animals.