A wolf that Danish authorities had classified as a problem wolf was shot Thursday near Houstrup in West Jutland. The Ministry for Nature and Animal Welfare says there is a high degree of certainty that it was the animal that had repeatedly approached people near Nørre Nebel.
The shooting took place inside a regulation zone that was created and later expanded after several incidents of the wolf seeking out people, DR reports. Houstrup lies west of Nørre Nebel in West Jutland. The Ministry for Nature and Animal Welfare announced the outcome in a press release.
According to the ministry, the wolf was shot at a distance of 10 meters. That short range is the reason officials say they can be highly confident the animal was the one they had been tracking. Minister for Nature and Animal Welfare Christian Rabjerg Madsen of the Social Democrats said a wolf that loses its shyness toward humans and shows problematic behavior should be shot.
The Danish Nature Agency had staff and thermal drones in the area from August 6. Experts at Aarhus University reviewed photographs and video of the animal. Their assessment was that it was the same wolf that showed approaching behavior earlier in 2026 in the regulation zone near Oksbøl, which led to the new zone near Nørre Nebel.
The ministry said the wolf was seen Monday near a restaurant in Lønne, close to Nørre Nebel, and again on Wednesday evening. Rabjerg Madsen said residents in the area can now move about without fear of the animal. He thanked the Nature Agency and members of the public who reported sightings.
The Copenhagen Post reported on August 7 that a heat-seeking drone was being deployed to help locate the problem wolf, and that the search had not yet succeeded at that point. The outlet has also previously covered the wolf’s classification as a problem animal. Public attention to wolf numbers in Denmark has grown alongside these cases.
Political discussion over EU rules
One day before the shooting, Rabjerg Madsen said he wants to discuss the current EU rules on wolf regulation, according to DR. He argued that the rules belong to a period when the wolf population was smaller. Denmark’s approach is set out in its wolf management plan.
The minister’s comments followed a separate case in North Jutland, where experts did not classify a wolf as a problem animal. Peter Sunde, professor at the Department of Ecoscience at Aarhus University, said the term problem wolf is a political definition rather than a professional one.
