Urgent call-up

The deadline is May 13, 2024 for processing your counter arguments into a court submission.

We’re in the highest court advocating for contraception which can replace the annual large scale shooting of deer carried out by the government. We are looking for (semi) wild deer dart expertise for the final phase of our lawsuit. We are also looking for experts or specialists who are capable of darting much more challenging animals than wild deer, also in variable conditions

The judge has requested experts to refute the government’s arguments. Whilst ultimately there are three claims that will need to be refuted.

The 3 arguments relating to these claims can be found in the detailed text of the
ruling below :

The ruling: Case number: UTR 24/1107 and 24/649
The goverment’s argument (11) page 4:
Argument 1. To administer the available vaccine, the red deer must be injected
at a short distance (maximum 30 meters). This is practically impossible for the
red deer in the Oostvaardersplassen. The red deer cannot be approached within
the required distance of 30 meters in the large area (fenced 1000 HA). The
distance at which culling can take place is many times greater (maximum 500
meters), making culling feasible.
(12) In the opinion of the interim judge, the Provincial Executive has sufficiently justified why contraception is not another satisfactory solution. Professor Stout research shows that there are vaccines available that red deer can be made infertile. But Professor Stout indicates that it is difficult for him to estimate whether contraception can be realized in the specific circumstances in the Oostvaardersplassen with the red deer. According to Professor Stout’s research, there are deer populations where contraception has been used as a management tool, but these were individual running animals or small groups that are either followed or lured with food. Or they were small groups that could be sedated or caught to administer the vaccine. In the Oostvaardersplassen, it concerns a large group of hundreds of red deer (500 max) that roam in a large area of approximately 1000 ha. Staatsbosbeheer has explained in their written response and during the hearing that red deer in the Oostvaardersplassen are not approaching the short distance necessary to administer contraception. The interim judge sees no points of contact in what the foundation has argued that this explanation would be incorrect, the foundation has also not submitted documents from an expert on the subject that contradict the practical impossibility of administering contraception to the red deer in the Oostvaardersplassen. In the opinion of the interim judge, contraception is therefore not a satisfactory solution
to limit the red deer population in the Oostvaardersplassen.

Argument 2. The interim judge therefore does not further assess the possible
consequences of contraception for the individual and social behavior of the red
deer and for the social structure in the group. Professor Stout says in the
literature study that these are less well described and the contraception would
therefore be an experimental exercise according to the Provincial Executive.

Argument 3. In the Oostvaardersplassen, it concerns a large group (500) of red deer that roam in a large area of approximately 1000 hecktare. Moreover, the hunters
say that the red deer disappear towards the marsh when people approach and
gather the animals in large groups, which makes individual shooting difficult.

How to answer this call-up?

You can send your refutation by e-mail
You can send your refutation by video message. This message will be typed up and returned asking for a signature for authenticity

Please state your full name and expertise because your arguments are being submitted to the court. If there are links to scientific studies that refute the arguments, please send these with the page references.

to: anita.reerink@diervriendelijk.nl, WeTransfer, twitter (X) @anitafilmt, WhatsApp 00316 19162439 (the Netherlands) +316 19162439. Perhaps you have any questions about this call-up? Please send your question by e-mail or call +316 19162439.

The deadline is May 13, 2024 for processing your counter arguments into a court submission. Your help could make the difference in ending the annual shooting of large deer groups. We thank you in advance for your help.

Yours sincerely,

Anita Reerink

No time to read the ruling?
The government claims: The red deer are not approachable from a distance of 30 meters in that large area, red deer are too shy, 30 meters is required for injecting contraception vaccin. According to the government, the distance at which shooting can take place is many times greater, which makes shooting feasible. There is research about contraception but only on individual deer and small groups not on five hundred deer. In the Oostvaardersplassen there is a large group of 500 deer that roam freely in a large area of approximately 1000 hectares. A weak point is the possible consequences of contraception for the individual and social behavior of the deer and for the social structure in the group because this is less well described in study’s.

Can a group of 500 wild red deer in a fenced 1000 hectares area of mostly open terrain, a small forest, and marsh, be treated with darts at a distance of 30 meters? And if so, how? What is the maximum dart distance? Only a small part of the prak is accessible for hikers. The red deer are culled every year. From 2500 to 500
The government calls the red deer semi wild.

Background info.
The government manages 136 Natura 2000 parks in the Netherlands. This task lies with the provinces, the Forestry Commission and the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management. Where grazers live, the parks are fenced.
The grazers can’t leave! Due to population growth, the parks are filling up.
The natural balance is thus never achieved, and always needs to be intervened by humans.
The key question is how to reduce a large group of grazers. Through the bullet, through slaughter, through starvation or through contraception. Only contraception stops the production of offspring this stops starvation and stops every year culling: it is the only and most humane management method.

Why the law?
In 2016, Reerink introduced Professor Stout from the Utrecht University Veterinary Institute to the government. In 2020, Stout wrote a global literature review on contraception on behalf of the government. Six professors and four doctors guarantee that contraception can be given to deer, horses and cattle in Natura 2000 parks. A satisfactory alternative is required under the Natura 2000 Act. When the government applied for a shooting permit, the government withheld the outcome of the global literature review and emphasized the insights that Stout himself had already rejected in order to reject contraception. The reason why we (the foundation Diervriendelijk Nederland & Reerink) started a lawsuit demanding that contraception be a satisfactory alternative.

Natura 2000 park Oostvaardersplassen