Plans to fire paintball guns at an apparently tame wolf in the Veluwe national park to scare it away from humans have been halted following a court ruling.

Midden-Nederland district court said on Wednesday that the decision to use the guns was ‘not properly supported’ and not enough research had been done into alternatives. In particular, the court said, there had been no research into the possible impact on a young wolf, a protected species, and its relationship with the pack.

Gelderland province issued a special exemption in October allowing rangers to fire paintball pellets at the wolves, after video footage was circulated online showing a young wolf coming close to humans.

But nature conservation society Faunabescherming challenged the exemption in court, arguing that the pellets could harm the wolves and the plan was a breach of conservation law and the national wolf plan. Judges said in an interim ruling earlier this month that practice should stop.