Predators

Species such as wolf, bear and lynx are on the rise in Europe. Back in 2008, FREE Nature, ARK Rewilding Nederland and the Dutch Mammal Society predicted that the wolf would soon return to the Netherlands. Together we founded the platform 'Wolven in Nederland' ('Wolves in The Netherlands'), which has since grown into a partnership of several social, animal and nature organizations. The wolf has been occasionally spotted since 2015, but since 2018, the wolf has made its definite return to our country. In 2019, a mating pair was observed, resulting in the first wolf cubs being born in the Netherlands. 

Large predators belong in our landscape. Predators tend to be territorial, with a plethora of food within their habitat. Wolves have a minimum territory size of about 200 square kilometers. For the solitary living lynx, females require about 25 square kilometers. Male lynx usually have a larger territory, that overlaps with that of several females.

Predators keep populations of grazers healthy by hunting weak and sick animals, preventing diseases to spread within a population of grazers. But more importantly, predators determine the movement patterns of large herbivores. The so-called 'ecology of fear' causes grazers to avoid high-risk areas, resulting in less local grazing. Animals also have to be more alert and stay on the move. This 'natural induced stress', ultimately causes less fat accumulation and reduced reproduction. Both directly, by eating grazers, and indirectly, large predators thus influence the numbers of grazers in an area.

Not all grazers are equally sensitive to large predators. Healthy and strong animals in the prime of their lives usually manage to escape predators. The young, old and sick animals are more vulnerable. Larger species, such as European bison, water buffalo and wild cattle are less susceptible to predators, than the smaller herbivores such as fallow deer. In areas inhabiting large predators, it is not so much that the biomass of large grazers decreases, but rather there's a favouring of larger species of grazers.