After an absence of 200 years wild wolves are roaming Denmark’s countryside
Following the discovery of a dead male wolf in the northernmost part of Denmark in 2012 research has been undertaken by the country’s Natural History Museum. As a result of their findings they have published a map showing all documented wolf information to date during 2014.
The documentation consists of photos from wildlife camera traps and DNA analyses of saliva samples from dead wildlife, sheep and calves, and samples from presumed wolf scats.
The maps reveal that wolves have been sighted in most parts of the peninsula of Jutland. Most of the positive wolf DNA samples were collected in the central and western Jutland, in areas with widespread forests and heathland, but wolves were also detected in more agricultural areas. Several wolf attacks on sheep and lambs are also reported to have taken place in the southern part of Jutland, close to the German border.
12 individual wolves have been identified through DNA analysis, interestingly two of them can be traced back to a German wolf pack, some 700 km away. Two others are closely related to a Polish pack at least 800 km away. So far most of the individuals have only been found once, however one individual has been detected in eight locations during the last 18 months.
