3200 large grazers do not survive winter

lelystad - Last winter 3226 animals died in the Oostvaardersplassen. That is considerably more than last year when 813 animals died between 1 December and 30 April. Most grazers (89 percent) were shot down because they were too weak to survive the winter, reports Staatsbosbeheer Monday. It concerns 2684 red deer, 75 Heck cattle and 467 konik horses.

After two mild winters, there were many animals in the area. In the autumn of 2017, approximately 5230 large grazers were observed in the area at a count. There are now almost as many large grazers in the nature reserve between Lelystad and Almere as in 2002.

The large grazers in the Oostvaardersplassen, which live in the wild, were fed up until the beginning of May after protests by activists against the animals' circumstances.