The province of Drenthe is no longer allowed to let go of road safety. The court decided that. According to the judge, the province cannot sufficiently demonstrate that shooting deer has an effect on the number of collisions with those animals in Drenthe.
The lawsuit was brought by Fauna4Life and Animal Rights. Both animal protection clubs are happy with the ruling. The province does not appeal against the decision.
Wild management units (the hunters) had so far an exemption for shooting deer for better road safety. That exemption is withdrawn.
According to the Drenthe Wild Management Units and the Fauna Management Unit Drenthe, it would be 600 collisions with deer per year. But according to the court there is no insight into the number of collisions in every game management unit and also not in the nature and severity of those collisions. So the substantiation that it is necessary for road safety to shoot deer insufficiently substantiated, the judge said.
According to deputy Egbert van Dijk, the province is now waiting for a new plan of the Fauna Management Unit. If it comes to the conclusion with comprehensive figures and better substantiation that it is necessary for road safety to shoot deer, the province will look at whether or not a new exemption will be made.
Van Dijk: “Managing Wild is complex and you do to find a careful balance between road safety, nature conservation and the interests of farmers.” The deputy does not exclude that the exemption for roe deer for road safety will come again.
Together with Animal Rights, Fauna4Life successfully conducts lawsuits against provinces when it comes to hunting animals. Fauna management as called by the province, hunters and farmers. The method is always the same. The fauna management plans, prepared by Fauna Management Units (FBEs or the hunters) are approved by provinces.
But Fauna4Life and Animal Rights are not good. The counts of the number of animals are unreliable and the substantiation to shoot animals is often not demonstrable. Measures other than shooting to prevent collisions with wild animals or damage to crops are often insufficiently investigated, the animal protection clubs find.
Van Dijk: “What we see is that in all provinces where the fauna management plans have been ‘expired’ and new plans must be assessed, this is challenged legally (often with success). This is also discussed in the province of Zeeland and the province of Flevoland. We also follow those matters with interest.”
It remains allowed in Drenthe to shoot deer if they are seriously ill or are injured, for example due to a collision in traffic or because they ended up under an agricultural machine. Then it is about redeeming animals from their suffering. The FBE must be accountable to the province annually on this.
A deer or another wild animal that is injured in a collision call hunters ‘fall wild’. In Drenthe, about fifty hunters are picking picket services to help road authorities and emergency services with knowledge and skills with collisions with deer. The main purpose of this Drenthe scheme is to prevent unnecessary suffering of roe deer involved in traffic collisions. A hunter goes to the accident and assesses whether an animal can still be saved or needs to be shot.
According to the fauna management unit, it already helps a lot to prevent collisions when people adjust their speed in areas where deer occurs when it starts to twist and when it is dark. Then it is mainly about wooded environment where the vision is more limited. According to the FBE, a lower speed gives both people and animals more likely to respond and prevent a collision.