One of the Limburg wolf cubs from the 2023 litter, August and Noëlla’s last litter, is located in Germany. On March 5, 2024, the animal’s DNA was sampled from a dead sheep in Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, west of Münster.
It concerns a female wolf, now exactly 1 year old – officially a cub today, but a ‘yearling’ from May 1. From August’s last litter, whose future seemed very uncertain for a moment when the founding father was mauled to death in Oudsbergen on July 25, 2023, this cub has already made it out and has successfully started the next phase in her life: the search for her own territory and a life partner.
The DNA samples were examined by the Senckenberg research institute in Gelnhausen, which works closely with the Flemish Institute for Nature and Forest Research (INBO). The State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection of North Rhine-Westphalia has announced the results and is formal: this wolf comes from the Hechtel-Eksel pack, where, according to INBO data, she was genetically identified for the first time in July 2023, on the territory of Oudsbergen.
The Limburg wolves August and Noëlla already have ‘grandchildren’ in the Southwest Veluwe, from the male cub Kenny from the 2021 litter. And who knows, daughter Emma from the 2022 litter may also one day have cubs in her territory north of Antwerp.
