Minister considers ban on feeding wolves in Denmark

Denmark's Minister for Nature and Animal Welfare, Christian Rabjerg Madsen, announced Tuesday that he is open to considering a ban on feeding wolves. The organization Dyrenes Beskyttelse has been advocating for such a measure, urging for more preventative initiatives from authorities to avoid future encounters with wolves exhibiting problematic behavior toward humans.

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There is already today, to a large extent, a ban on feeding wild animals with a wide range of products, for example, by laying out meat in nature. I have asked my ministry to look into the possibility of a targeted ban on feeding wolves.

"There is already today, to a large extent, a ban on feeding wild animals with a wide range of products, for example, by laying out meat in nature," Madsen told Radio IIII in a written response also sent to Ritzau. "I have asked my ministry to look into the possibility of a targeted ban on feeding wolves."

Dyrenes Beskyttelse highlighted that wolves can develop problematic behavior when they become too trusting of humans. This often occurs when they repeatedly find easy food sources near human settlements. "Any form of feeding or luring will therefore pose a risk to both humans and wolves. That is why we also believe that the authorities must work to stop the feeding," said Michael Carlsen, project manager for biology and fauna at Dyrenes Beskyttelse, on the organization's website.

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Any form of feeding or luring will therefore pose a risk to both humans and wolves. That is why we also believe that the authorities must work to stop the feeding.

Minister Madsen called the proposal from Dyrenes Beskyttelse "interesting." He elaborated, "Wolves should be naturally shy of humans. When people feed wolves, we risk them losing that shyness and starting to approach people. This can create unsafe situations, similar to what we have experienced in the Oksbøl and Nørre Nebel areas, where the authorities shot a problem wolf."

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Wolves should be naturally shy of humans. When people feed wolves, we risk them losing that shyness and starting to approach people. This can create unsafe situations, similar to what we have experienced in the Oksbøl and Nørre Nebel areas, where the authorities shot a problem wolf.