Warning: Distressing content
LiveLeak/DKDRThe moment a hunter shoots dead one of the only wild wolves to roam free in Denmark for 200 years has been caught on camera.
Two naturalists were observing the wolf, said to be female, when a man allegedly shot the animal dead in the farming region of Jutland, Denmark.
You can watch the tragic scene below:
Guillaume Chapron, associate professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, told The Guardian the killing was ‘completely unacceptable’ with the wolf showing no sign of aggressive behaviour before it was shot but ‘rather a mix of caution and curiosity’.
Chapron continued:
From the video recording of the animal behaviour, there was absolutely no threat to humans and there was also no indication whatsoever that this animal could become a threat.
He added it was difficult to find a reason for the shooting ‘except simple wolf hatred and a belief that humans do not tolerate predators in the landscape’, concluding:
I don’t think we have a problem wolf here but we certainly have a ‘problem hunter’ and such people need to be stopped.
LiveLeak/DKDRPolice have charged a 66-year-old local man with ‘violation of the hunting legislation’.
A spokesman for the Danish police told the The Guardian:
He denies having killed the wolf, but does not wish to give the police any further information on the case.
We have confiscated the man’s car, from which he allegedly fired his weapon, and a number of hunting weapons on the man’s residence.
Danish reports suggest the wolf may have been crossing land owned by the former parliamentary candidate, Steffen Troldtoft, when it was shot dead, stating the man who’s been arrested is actually a close family member of Troldtoft.
LiveLeak/DKDRThe wild wolf pack was the first to live roaming free in Denmark in 200 years after wolves had not been seen in the country since 1813.
It was only last year hopes of a pack were born after a single female walked 500 kilometres (310 miles) from Germany and joined the males.
Those hopes for conservation through natural breeding have been cut terribly short, as experts now fear the chances of a viable pack in Denmark are unlikely.
Meanwhile, other species are dying out due to human factors like deforestation:
Wolves have been vilified across Europe by farmers who believe the animals threaten their livestock. In Denmark, wolves had been accused of killing sheep, but the government has already set up a scheme to reimburse farmers.
Global meat industries are causing a massive strain on livestock and wild animals alike, as UNILAD discovered in a documentary which exposes the impact of the animal agriculture industry.
You can discover more in the documentary, Meat The End, below:
But in this latest case the wolf posed no threat.
Elsewhere, in Flanders, a wild wolf had been spotted living in the wild for the first time in 100 years, after the wolves had been pronounced a protected species in 1979.
If you have a story to tell, contact UNILAD via [email protected].
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.