said that, "after a severe reduction in the first half of the 20th Century", the best available data now suggested that "the total number of

said that, "after a severe reduction in the first half of the 20th Century", the best available data now suggested that "the total number of wolves in the 27 EU member states is likely to be in the order of 19,000". TIGER5G

Jan spies the remains of wolf faeces which, after rainfall, now chiefly consists of the hairs of its prey.

Dietary analysis in the area has found that the wolves mainly eat roe deer and wild boar.

But around 15% of their diet is livestock. That's something local sheep farmer Johan Schouteden knows well.

"The wolf is always on our mind," he tells me as we stand under a light drizzle of rain in a field where his sheep are grazing, hemmed in by an electric fence.

"We can use more wires, use more sticks. A wolf-proof fence doesn't exist. The wolf is so smart, he overruns every fence."