Wolf Pack Roams Denmark for First Time in 200 Years

Researchers have confirmed at least five different wild wolves roaming around Denmark for the first time in two centuries.

Other than the one male wolf that was spotted wandering the Jutland peninsula in 2012, the country’s last verified wild wolf sighting was in 1813, Peter Sunde, a senior researcher at Aarhus University, told Newsweek.

“Wolves were exterminated in Denmark because of intense persecution” from hunters, Sunde said.

Now there’s a full-fledged wild wolf pack—consisting of at least four males and one female—for the first time in more than two centuries. Recent CCTV footage shows a pair of the wolves in West Jutland.

The researchers believe the female settled in the region after trekking 340 miles from Germany and expect the pack will grow.

“We expect that they will have cubs this year or the next,” Sunde said, according to the BBC.

More wolves might also make the journey from Germany, meaning there could be more wolf packs soon.

“Now, it’s just a matter of a few years before we begin to see more wolf packs in Denmark,” Sunde told the Copenhagen Post.

But as researcher Guillaume Chapron asked in the Guardian, “The question has to be asked: are people going to accept the wolves?”

Farmers have demanded action from the Danish government following a string of wolf attacks over the winter. More than two dozen sheep have been attacked since the first wolf was spotted in 2012.

“When they realize that Danish sheep don’t taste too bad, that may be a little problematic,” Chapron said.