The animal welfare group Welkom Wolf received a report early Friday morning regarding a wolf killed in a road accident in Geel.
The accident, which happened at around 2:00 am, resulted in the death of the wolf but caused only minor damage to the vehicle involved. Photos confirmed that the animal was a European wolf, according to Jan Loos from the organisation Landschap.
The animal’s remains were collected by a shelter in Oudsbergen and will later be transferred to the Flemish Institute for Nature and Forest Research (INBO).
The institute plans to conduct a full autopsy, including DNA analysis, to determine if the wolf is the same one linked to a sheep attack in Mol-Millegem last October.
Experts suggest it is unlikely that the wolf was part of the pack established in the Limburg region. The local pack reportedly has no cubs, and the established female wolf, Noëlla, typically does not venture as far as Geel. Additionally, the region’s six-month-old cubs are too young to leave their den.
Two solitary wolves are currently settling in peripheral areas of Limburg, but their movements are unconnected. Jan Loos suggests it is possible one of these wolves may have strayed, though it’s more likely that the wolf in Geel came from populations migrating from Germany, France, the Netherlands, or the High Fens at this time of year.
