Wolf Bram's shooter will not be investigated despite late shot

The Openbaar Ministerie (OM) is not opening a criminal investigation into the person who shot wolf GW3237m, nicknamed Bram, on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug on 1 December last year. A spokesperson for the Functioneel Parket confirmed this.

Bram was shot dead at 23.10. The permit allowed shooting only until 17.33, one hour after sunset. Animal Rights and Werkgroep Wolf Leusden had made an allegation against the shooter, saying the shooting was illegal because it came hours after the permitted time.

The OM says the shooter rightly chose to kill the wolf outside the permitted time. It cited "the pressure from the public, who wanted to prevent new incidents, and the fact that four months had gone by without any successful attempt to shoot the wolf".

The province of Utrecht granted the permit in the summer of 2025 because Bram had been involved in serious incidents on the Heuvelrug. He attacked a 6-year-old boy near Austerlitz and bit a pedestrian. According to the province, the Omgevingsdienst Utrecht, which checks compliance with permits for the province, had earlier looked into the matter and found a minor violation of the permit.

Animal Rights said it is disappointed. "It sets a precedent that the conditions in permits don't have to be followed and can simply be interpreted however you like," the organisation said.