Book Review: Wolves at the Veluwe by Evert de Jonge

 

Note: The title of this book has been translated into English by me for the reading comprehension of this blog's viewers as the book itself isn't available in English (yet). The original title reads Wolven op de Veluwe.

So, wolves huh? Quite the hot-button topic, and not just in the USA. Where I live, in the Netherlands, they have been the talk of the day many times in the past few years. After 120+ years of extinction here, they came back of their own volition to our little country. They were once wiped out in pretty much all of Western Europe, but after a successful return to certain lands like Germany, they're now here as well! So let's take a look at this book! 

Wolves at the Veluwe describes the topic of wolves in the Netherlands broadly, but mostly focuses on a very specific area: the titular Veluwe, a large forest-y-area that houses many wild animals. Since our land is so incredibly full (most of it is cities, towns or polders), real "wild" nature is sometimes hard to come by, which is why the Veluwe is all the more respected for the amount of flora and fauna species it houses. 

Wolves have been slowly making their ways back to the Netherlands in the past decade or so. It started with the first possible sighting (and also a hoax involving a dead wolf from Poland being placed alongside the road as a "joke") back in around 2015. From then on, the sightings only increased. In 2018-2019, the first wolf settled in the Netherlands, you guessed it, at the Veluwe. She then proceeded to form a pair with another and after over 120 years with no new pups born, we finally had a litter of Eurasian wolves here.

The book covers these events. While the broad strokes of the return to the Netherlands are of course mentioned, it really does mostly focus on the return to the Veluwe. However, not just their return is covered; the book also goes in depth to describe the past of wolves in the Netherlands (and briefly Western Europe) and the many fables (sometimes loosely based on facts) that surround the species in our country. 

The book really isn't one about the species of wolves itself. While of course facts about the species are mentioned, the biology and stuff like pack structure, hunting tactics, etc. remain mostly untouched. It really is more a look at the history and fact and fiction of wolves and of course the hot-topic return of them to the Netherlands.

It also contains many photos and pictures and is designed beautifully. The text reads away nicely and it's very informative. If you want a book that actively covers the lives and behavior of wolves or their return to the Netherlands in general, this isn't the book for you. But if you want to focus specifically about their return and rise at the Veluwe, I absolutely recommend it!

Rating: 4/5