Dutch province warns parents against taking young children to forests following wolf encounters

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A central Dutch province is urgently warning parents not to take young children to a popular forest area near the city of Utrecht following two recent close encounters with a wolf displaying “atypical and worrying” behavior. Utrecht Province on Thursday was preparing to seek a permit to kill the wolf, which is a protected species throughout the European Union. The province says that a child was pushed over by a wolf in the village of Austerlitz on Wednesday. The incident came two weeks after another confrontation led to the closure of a popular walking area.