They are often brown and you see them in a meadow, but near Oosterhesselen a black deer was seen in a bush. A special natural phenomenon, because animals in that color are not common.
“According to our annual count, there are approximately 110,000 deer in the Netherlands, about 2 percent of which have a black coat,” says Marcel Gademan of Vereniging Het Ree.
The black roe deer is an exceptional phenomenon, which has to do with a genetic mutation in pigment distribution. “The black gene occurs in the deer population. That is why reproduction can lead to a black deer, but also a brown deer,” Gademan explains.
The black colored deer is not loved by everyone. Gademan: “Some managers want to maintain the original color and believe that the black gene does not belong in the deer. But this is a personal choice.”
You are more likely to spot black deer in the northern provinces than in the south. “The dark-colored deer are mainly found on the border of Drenthe and Overijssel,” says Gademan. But the population in the Netherlands is expanding rapidly. For example, in 1951 there were still 5,000 deer walking through our country.
“We do a count once a year, but a deer is almost invisible, so we think there are many more deer than we count,” says Gademan. The number of black deer will not be higher than stated in the statistics. “The black color is more noticeable, so you see those deer much faster than the brown ones.”
Herzo van der Wal, from the Deer Knowledge Center, is also concerned with this special animal species. “I receive about three to five reports every week from people who have spotted a black deer in the Netherlands.” Van der Wal records this on a map.