After almost eleven years of protecting deer it has been nice for Willem van der Sloot. The Zandvoortse Herten whisperer puts an end to his deer herds. His last act is showing the deer in the Waterleidingduinen to the Japanese deer photographer Yoko Ishii.
“We have now seen 37 deer. And there are still a few more. It seems like they knew that Yoko would come today,” says Willem in the Duinen. It is also quite special that they have seen almost forty. Because a few thousand were killed by a slope. Yoko is now busy photographing the deer.
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Yoko Ishii is internationally known for her photos of Herten. When she was a bit overstrained by her busy job, she went out with a camera. “I photographed my first deer in Japan in 2011. In the city of Nara. There they just walk through the city in the morning. It seemed like they had taken over the city. There was no one on the street,” she says. “That inspired me.” Since then she has been traveling around to take pictures of deer in different countries.
Deer are holy in Japan
With her photos of the deer of Nara, without people on it, she distinguished herself. Exhibitions followed, all over the world. “In Nara his deer holy. There is a legend that a deity drove around a white deer there,” she explains. In Nara it is about so -called sikaherten. They have other tails, colors and antlers than the deer in the Waterleidingduinen.
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“Look, another deer,” Willem whispers to Yoko. She has a tactic to approach the animals: walking quietly around it and not straight on it. Because then they are shocked and they are gone. She quickly takes a few photos. She doesn’t find it strange that there are so little to see. In the outlying areas in Japan, deer are also shot.
In the meantime, Willem looks proudly. “I know her pictures of Nara and she follows my Facebook site over the Zandvoortse Damdherten. We both try to show the beauty of these animals. That they should live. They don’t hurt anyone.”
The deer whisperer stops, and now really
It feels for Willem like ‘the icing on the cake’ that the Japanese is now there. “Great. She comes across for a few days to meet me and photograph the deer. I use this as a great moment to stop.” A striking statement, because he said that six years ago.
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“It was unable to stop at the time. I couldn’t just give up the bond with the deer. And there were still a few more projects,” Willem explains.
‘Health is above the deer’
Now the farewell as a deer whisperer is final. “I am getting seventy and really have to start thinking for myself. My health has had a few setbacks. Stress is not good for me.”
For example, Willem is very concerned if politics did not want to cooperate in his ideas. Or because negative reactions appeared on his posts on Facebook. He has other plans, painting and supporting his son to become a pilot. He wants to be busy with that.
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There were plenty of highlights. “For example, supervising large groups of deer from the streets to the dune area. The fence in the southern dunes felt like a victory. And also the warning signs for crossing deer along the roads,” says Willem proudly. And he spoones a few more.
He has achieved a lot for deer and people. Because collisions between deer and cars are terrible for all parties, he always says. Yet a few unfinished projects remain. “It fence over the nature bridge About the Zandvoortselaan has to go. The fences along the track and the sea road Are still not there. She promise everythingbut nothing comes of it. “
Willem will certainly not go after it anymore. Others can do that now. Together with Yoko he goes to another part of the Waterleidingduinen. Maybe a few deer are also walking around there. One day he hopes to be able to see them again from the air. With his son as a pilot in the cockpit.