Thousands of wild boar and deer to be shot this year in Veluwe

The Fauna Management Unit Gelderland (FBE) wants to shoot thousands of wild boars, red deer and fallow deer in the upcoming hunting season in Veluwe. The FBE said this is necessary to maintain the health and biodiversity of the natural ecosystem in Veluwe.

Wild boar, fallow deer and red deer are shot every year in Veluwe, yet this year the number of animals that are allowed to be hunted is higher than usual.

There are currently 4,600 red deer in Veluwe, while the area actually only has room for 1,600. There is space for 400 fallow deer, although there are currently 1,100. Hunters from the FBE and other organizations will be shooting deer throughout Veluwe, including De Hoge Veluwe National Park to control the population.

The number of boars has also steadily expanded in recent years due to the abundance of beechnuts and acorns. Despite the efforts of hunters to decrease the number of boars in the past five years, there are as of now ten thousand wild boars in Veluwe. According to the FBE, there is only room for 1,350 wild boars in 2022 which means 8,800 will have to be shot.

Around 15 to 20 wolves have been roaming in Veluwe since 2018, but that is not enough to control the large number of boars and deer in the area. “The wolf can control the population but not regularly. Additional management will always be necessary”, the FBE wrote.

“The whole of nature benefits from a healthy Veluwe. Now Veluwe is being eroded and too few healthy plants and trees remain”, a FBE spokesperson told Omroep Gelderland. “This not only leads to a food shortage; healthy trees and plants also extract CO2 and nitrogen from the air”