
© AFP
Dutch authorities late Wednesday issued an urgent warning to visitors with small children to avoid a forested area in central Netherlands after several "disturbing" incidents involving a wolf, including a child who was bitten.
The latest encounter happened on Wednesday morning when "a large animal", presumed to be the wolf, bumped over a child near the small village of Austerlitz, about 16 kilometres east of Utrecht.
The child in the latest incident was not injured, but a young girl on an after-school outing was bitten on her side 10 days ago in the same area.
DNA tests confirmed a wolf as the culprit.
Called the Utrecht Ridge Hills, the area is thickly forested and a favoured by hikers, cyclists and runners.
The Utrecht Province "calls on all visitors to be extremely careful when visiting the Utrecht Ridge Hills area," said a statement.
"The urgent advice is not to visit these forests with small children."
In early July a women reported her poodle being killed by a wolf.
Officials "seriously considers that it is the same wolf that was previously involved in the incidents with the other girl and a dog."
Wolf experts said the animal showed "atypical and disturbing behaviour," the statement added.
Wolves first appeared back in the Netherlands in 2015 after an absence of 150 years, with dozens being spotted since, but the animals remain elusive and generally avoided humans.
The province was preparing permit to shoot the animal as a result of the incidents, authorities said, which also gave instructions when encountering a wolf.
"Do not run away but make yourself big, make gestures or noises. Walk backwards slowly," the instructions said.