Large herbivores in the Dutch wetland 'de Oostvaardersplassen' - Comments on the 'guidelines large herbivores' from the Secretary of State of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries

The recently published 'Guidelines large herbivores' from the Secretary of State of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries are commented upon. These Guidelines pay insufficient attention to the welfare of the animals u sed. Only the management of domestic animals is discussed while the managem ent of the deer, which form an integral part of the system is left open. The name of the Veterinary Guidance Committee Nature is questioned since it suggest an independent contribution of specialised veterinary knowledge on the various health and welfare issues, but in reality a broad representati on of different governmental and public organizations is present. The view points of this so-called veterinary committee seem to disagree with those o f the Dutch veterinary community as formulated by the Royal Netherlands Vet erinary Association. Independent of the species of animal used for the management of the area a plea is held for active control of the population - 'looking through the ey es of the wolve' - to dampen large fluctuations in population size and prev ent unnecessary suffering through starvation. Since the domesticated animals used have to comply with strict veterinary r egulations when intended for human consumption the suggestion is made to in vestigate the possibility of using only truly wild animals like deer. Europ ean bison and wild boar for the management of the wetland. When wild animal s are used culled animals can be used for human consumption and this preven ts that every year numerous cadavers of cattle and horse have to be collect ed from the area and incinerated.