Provincial authorities in the Netherlands will soon allow park wardens to shoot wolves with paintballs in order to scare them away from humans, the .
The decision by the Gelderland province, located on the Netherlands鈥檚 border with Germany, was prompted by that showed a wolf walking past a young family in Hoge Veluwe National Park.
鈥淲e鈥檙e dealing with wolves that have become too tame. So we have to deter [them] from people,鈥 a provincial spokesperson .
Officials chose paintballs as the method of choice because the colored splotches allow wardens to see which wolves are getting too close to park visitors, . According to , the Netherlands is home to at least 20 adult wolves, including a pack and two pairs in Hoge Veluwe National Park, a pair on the border between the provinces of Drenthe and Friesland, and 11 lone animals across the country.
Park officials at Hoge Veluwe have denied allegations by the environmental organization Faunabescherming, which has accused rangers of intentionally food conditioning the wolves so that they can be killed.
鈥淚f the Hoge Veluwe houses a wolf population that behaves significantly differently from all other wolves in the Netherlands and neighboring countries, then there is a very suspicious situation,鈥 the group鈥檚 president, Niko Koffeman, told .
According to the BBC, the local government鈥檚 decision does not permit anyone to go into Hoge Veluwe National Park and start firing at wolves. Officials have not yet set a date for when the measure will go into effect.