Minister sent death threats over plans to shoot “problem wolves”

Junior agriculture minister Silvio Erkens says he has has received death threats after bringing new rules making it easier for provincial and local governments to shoot wolves that pose a danger to people.

Erkens told MPs that local authorities needed more powers to drive away wolves that had lost their fear of humans, with shooting a last resort to deal with so-called “problem wolves”.

He faced criticism in parliament on Tuesday for announcing the measures in July before they could be debated, as well as for his comments in an interview about the shooting of a wolf known as Bram in December 2025.

“The world is on fire, all sorts of things are going on and at the same time people in our country are organising funerals for Bram the wolf. Totally out of touch with the world,” Erkens told the Telegraaf.

Bram, officially designated wolf GW3237m, became a cause célèbre for animal welfare campaigners after Utrecht province gave a local hunting organisation a licence to kill him last July.

It followed a number of incidents in which the wolf had approached humans, including an attack on a child. Bram was shot dead last December after campaigners lost a court battle to have the permit revoked.

14 packs

Erkens also criticised a report by scientists at Wageningen University, who said the Netherlands’ wolf population should be allowed to grow both for legal reasons and to benefit the ecosystem.

He said there was “not a single realistic scenario in which you’d want 56 wolf packs”. Currently there are 14 packs established in the country, with more than 100 wolves altogether.

The return of the animals to the Netherlands a decade ago has sharply divided opinions, with right-wing and rural parties calling for stronger measures to cull their numbers while progressive parties have said they should be protected.

Under Erkens’ rules, a wolf becomes a “problem wolf” if they attack people, react aggressively rather than running away, or attack horses or cattle more than once in a two-week period.

Local authorities then have a range of options to drive off the wolf, including shooting them with paintball guns, with killing them as a last resort. “I would hope that all of us would draw a red line if a child is attacked by a wolf,” he said.