Day: August 17, 2025

The grey wolf has returned to Western Europe, igniting a debate over its presence. While some view the predator as a symbol of nature’s resilience, others see it as a looming threat. This discord highlights humanity’s struggle to coexist with wildlife rather than the wolf’s inherent danger. In areas molded by human activity, even fleeting encounters with wolves can swiftly escalate into conflicts, reports 24brussels.

Since their return to the Low Countries in 2018, wolves have sparked mixed reactions. A notable case involved a wolf named Billy, who migrated from Germany in spring 2020, killing over 60 sheep during a two-week stay in West Brabant. This prompted urgent calls for his removal.

Billy’s travels took him through Flanders, where he navigated busy roads and canals, ultimately leading to his demise in the Vosges mountains of France in September 2020, under a controversial exemption to EU laws. However, advocates for wolf conservation argue that Billy was mischaracterized as a threat.

“A problem wolf is one that endangers people,” stated Jan Loos from Welkom Wolf during an interview with VRT NWS. “Billy feared humans like any other wolf. He just took risks with livestock.”

Adaptable Predator, Inflexible People

The perception of wolves as incompatible with urban settings is misleading, according to Dries Kuijper from Poland’s Mammal Research Institute. He highlighted the wolf’s remarkable adaptability, stating: “From Arctic tundra to the edge of cities, it can thrive.”

Conflicts typically arise from food resources humans provide, such as unprotected livestock and deliberate feeding by tourists, leading to potentially harmful interactions. Kuijper’s research indicates that wolves retain their natural caution even in human-dominated landscapes. His studies in Poland’s Tuchola Forest revealed that wolves fled faster and more frequently in response to human voices than neutral sounds.

“A wolf passing through a village is instantly seen as dangerous, while no one blinks if a deer does the same,” said Frederik Thoelen from Belgium’s Natuurhulpcentrum.

While fears surrounding wolves are prevalent, there are also efforts to draw them near. In Belgium’s Hautes Fagnes and the Dutch Veluwe, people have attempted to lure wolves with food—a practice that has resulted in detrimental consequences, including the death of a young wolf when its food source was severed. Kuijper warns that such feeding habits can compromise wolves’ natural wariness and lead to dependency, increasing potential conflict.

Yellowstone Effect

The resurgence of wolves has stirred hopes for ecological recoveries akin to those in Yellowstone National Park, yet the effects in Europe can be subtle due to intensive land use. In Poland’s Białowieża Forest, for instance, red deer avoid areas frequently visited by wolves, which has led to a favorable environment for saplings. However, human disturbance often overshadows these ecological dynamics.

Kuijper cautioned, “The wolf is not a miracle cure, but part of a complex system trying to re-establish itself in a human-dominated world.”

This article is based on a publication released on apache.be this week.

Kazakhstan has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump for their meeting in Alaska, describing it as “the beginning of high-level negotiations on the situation in Ukraine.”

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev “regards the summit as a historic event, made possible by the political will and sincere determination of both leaders to seek common approaches to resolving contemporary global challenges, including the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine,” Tokayev´s press secretary, Ruslan Zheldibay, said on X on Saturday.

Tokayev’s statement generally aligned with the positive statements made by Putin and Trump after their meeting on Friday, even though the two leaders provided few details about how they envisioned resolving the conflict when they spoke briefly to the media after their discussion. Ukraine and its European allies have been concerned that Trump could favor Putin’s terms for ending the war, leaving Ukraine vulnerable to renewed Russian pressure in the future.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet Trump at the White House on Monday. In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump appeared to back away from his previous demand for a Ukraine-supported ceasefire, saying it was better to “go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.”

Despite their concerns, European leaders have welcomed Trump’s negotiation efforts, noting a statement by the U.S. president that the United States “is prepared to give security guarantees” so that Ukraine can defend its sovereignty.

“It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders must not be changed by force,” a joint statement by European leaders said.

Kazakhstan is not directly involved in negotiations over Ukraine, but it has become an intermittent venue for international diplomacy and has offered to assist as needed since it maintains ties with both Russia and Ukraine.

Tokayev has spoken in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. But in a phone call a week ago, Tokayev told Zelenskyy that “A bad peace is better than a good war,” possibly a pitch to the Ukrainian leader to consider concessions such as giving up territory in order to preserve the country’s independence. Russia occupies an estimated 20% of Ukraine and has made gains in eastern Ukraine in recent days.

At least publicly, Zelenskyy has opposed the idea of giving up territory, saying the Ukrainian constitution prevents him from doing so. On Saturday, he said on X: “A real peace must be achieved, one that will be lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions.”

Kazakhstan, which has sought neutrality over the war, shares a long land border with Russia and has closer trade and diplomatic ties with Moscow than Kyiv. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Tokayev has spoken to Zelenskyy several times in phone calls that, according to Kazakhstan’s presidency, were initiated by the Ukrainian side. Tokayev has spoken to Putin by phone on more than twice as many occasions and has also met the Russian leader several times during that period.