While many people suggested that countries like Holland are far to built up to ever have a population of wolves, this is becoming increasingly clear to be wrong. 15 wolves have not only settled in Holland, but have established territory. This includes 4 pairs, which are likely to have cubs later in this year.
A further 11 were known to pass through Holland, though there may be more than managed to slip under the radar. 2 wolves have died after collisions with cars, and it is thought that there may have been another killed by someone on purpose. There have also been a reported 54 attacks on farm animals. Only south Holland currently remains wolf free.
It is thought that most of the wolves originate from eastern Europe and Germany, though 1 is thought to come from central Europe (I have spoken about this area before, with it being a significant block in central Europe with few to none of the animals that are returning to so much of the rest of Europe.
While this number is probably not high enough for anyone to start running wolf watching tours, these animals will give balance to the natural ecosystem of Holland. Barring a large increase in poaching or a sudden reversal by the government, I suspect the wolf is there to stay. While the Netherlands is unlikely to ever host thousands of wolves within its borders, being a relatively small country, its no smaller than Estonia which has about 200 wolves.
