The court in Lelystad rejected the objections of nature organizations against the culling of over 1,800 red deer in nature reserve Oostvaardersplassen. Foresters can therefore cull the large grazers. No appeal is possible against this ruling, NOS reports.
The culling is expected to start during the course of next week. The exact start will depend on various factors, such as the location of the animals and weather conditions.
A total of 2,320 red deer currently live in the Oostvaardersplassen, according to a count by forestry association Staatsbosbeheer. Due to the reclassification of the nature reserve, only 490 of them can stay there. The other 1,830 red deer will have to be culled or moved, NU.nl reports.
The province of Flevoland wants to cull the 1,830 red deer, because relocation is too stressful for the animas. Six nature organizations are trying to stop that in lawsuit. The court will rule later on Monday.
A suspicious package was found at the provincial house on Visarenddreef in Lelystad on Monday morning. The police closed down the area around the building, including part of the nearby train station. Multiple banners with slogans about nature reserve Oostvaardersplassen were also found hanging on the provincial house, a spokesperson for the Midden Nederland police said to NU.nl.
The police are allowing pedestrians into the train station, but motorists are being stopped, according to Omroep Flevoland.
Around a dozen beavers were shot in Limburg in an effort to protect infrastructure in the province, making Limburg the first province in which this protected species is culled. The shooting of these animals was ordered by Limburg water board Waterschap Limburg after they got permission from the province, RTL Nieuws reports.
Bird flu was diagnosed in chickens on a poultry farm in Sint Philipsland, which forms part of the Zeeland municipality of Tholen. The company's approximately 42 thousand laying hens were culled, NOS reports.
The authorities believe that this diagnosis involves a mild variant of the H5 virus. But as a mild variant can mutate into a highly contagious and deadly variant, European rules require the culling of affected animals.
The number of horses, deer and cattle in the Oostvaardersplassen near Lelystad needs to be significantly reduced. About a third of the approximately 4,500 hoofed animals currently roaming the park need to disappear in order to prevent the park being stripped bare. The Flevoland government is looking for ways other than culling to deal with these animals, Trouw reports.
Bird flu was found at a poultry farm in Abbega, Friesland on Tuesday. The farm owns about 63 thousand laying hens, which will be culled as soon as can be arranged, ANP reprots
State Secretary Martijn van Dam of Economic Affairs implemented a transport ban in a 10 kilometer zone around the infected farm. No poultry eggs, manure or used poultry bedding may be transported in this area for the time being. No other poultry farms are located in the immediate vicinity of the infected farm.
Schiphol and Noord-Holland are still fighting for approval to gas thousands of geese in the area around the airport, despite a court ban. According to the airport and the province, gassing is the only effective way to get rid of enough birds that they no longer pose a risk to air traffic. They are heading back to court on Monday
The municipality of Amsterdam is considering experimenting with a new way to control the overgrown population of fallow deer in the Waterleidingduinen - by sending them to a new home in the Rodopen national park in Bulgaria.
A new case of avian influenza was discovered on a 22,000-hen poultry farm in Tzummarum, Friesland. The influenza is most likely a mild H7 variant, the Dutch government says.
