A young boy was hiking at a nature reserve in the Netherlands with his mother and younger brother when a wolf attacked him. The boy, just six years old, survived the attack thanks to other hikers who fought the wolf off with sticks as it attempted to drag the child into the woods.
Officials from the Den Treek nature reserve have reportedly warned people not to hike there with children or dogs, since this wasn’t the first wolf-related incident. Before the attack, the mother said she saw the wolf approaching her boy and thought it was a large, playful dog running toward them.
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“But before I got there, I heard my eldest son screaming very loudly,” she told The Times. “He was jumped by the animal and dragged into the woods.”
When hiking or camping in areas where large mammals live, including wolves, bears, and mountain lions, always carry a deterrent spray (usually marketed as “bear spray”).
Header stock image of wolf at De Hoge Veluwe National Park, Netherlands by Manuel ROMARIS/Getty Images
Best Bear (and Mountain Lion) Sprays
Learn more about bear sprays here.
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