A wolf killed and probably ate one pet kangaroo, and injured another in the municipality of Balen, in the Antwerp province on Christmas eve.
Wolf August, who has often been spotted in the Limburg province and presumably lives there, is most likely the culprit.
The wolf crawled under the fence of a domain owned by people who hold kangaroos, and killed one while injuring another. "They are quite small animals, so that is no problem for a wolf. It sounds too absurd, but it's really true," said Jan Loos of the Welkom Wolf organisation, reports Gazet van Antwerpen. "It was written in the stars that one day something would go wrong. However, nobody could have predicted that the wolf would be so original and go the exotic way for his Christmas dinner," he added.
"Everybody keeps talking about the 'Limburg wolf', but an animal knows no provincial borders, it cannot be stopped by that," said Loos. "This is exactly why, for two years now, Welkom Wolf has been encouraging the Flemish government to extend the information initiatives in the Limburg province to the Antwerp region and in particular to the municipality of Balen. In the meantime, initiatives have been taken to this end, and a meeting had been scheduled," he added.
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Earlier this week, dead sheep and paw prints in the Kempen region in Antwerp already suggested that a wolf was in the area. It was initially thought that a second wolf had joined August, but Loos does not think it is likely a second wolf was responsible for this incident.
"August has crossed the Beveren canal before, it's only now that he's doing damage," said Loos, adding that for the time being there is no 100% certainty that August is the culprit. "The paw prints make us suspect that August is involved, but a DNA test will have to prove that. Samples have been taken from the kangaroo and the fence, the Institute for Nature and Forests will have the results in January," he added, reports VRT.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
