It is met with outrage and bewilderment among several political parties that the Minister for Nature and Animal Welfare, Christian Rabjerg Madsen (Social Democrats), is sticking to the plan to eradicate the sika deer in Denmark.
A new genetic study of Danish sika deer and red deer concludes that the two deer species do not interbreed in this country, as had been feared after so-called hybrids were found in, for example, Ireland and Scotland.
- What the government is doing is completely wrong, and Christian Rabjerg is on a completely wrong track here, says Peter Kofod, political spokesperson for the Danish People's Party.
- I think they should sit down and look at this case again, climb down from the tree they have unfortunately gotten too high up in, and admit they were wrong, he says.
> It seems a bit foolish.
> Torsten Gejl, nature and environment spokesperson for The Alternative
It is actually the EU that has placed the sika deer, which originally comes from Asia, on the list of unwanted invasive species that must be eradicated.
From the Danish side, this is done with a "lenient" approach (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/minister-vil-ikke-aktivt-bekaempe-uoenskede-sikahjorte), which means that deer parks with sika deer behind fences can let their populations die out naturally, provided they prevent new calves from being born. In practice, however, this means the male deer must be killed.
In Jægersborg Deer Park, where the Danish Nature Agency is responsible for the deer, the entire remaining herd will be shot this autumn, and deer living in the wild can be shot all year round.
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Minister is 'left rather exposed'
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The Alternative also criticizes the minister's announcement that he is sticking to the plan.
- We should not eradicate the sika deer, which has been here for 125 years and is a fine piece of wildlife, just as a matter of principle, says nature and environment spokesperson Torsten Gejl.
Both the Conservative People's Party and the Denmark Democrats join in:
- It seems a bit foolish, because the argument so far has been that this sika deer is ruining the deer population in Denmark because it hybridized, points out Kim Edberg, environment spokesperson for the Denmark Democrats, and continues:
- Now that argument is gone, and so the minister is left rather exposed to explain to me why sika deer are such a huge problem, but wolves - we should have them, he says, referring to the handling of another, more debated animal in Danish nature, which falls under Christian Rabjerg Madsen's portfolio.
- When we have a report showing there is no crossbreeding, one is surely obliged to reconsider this, states Frederik Bloch Münster, environment spokesperson for the Conservatives.
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A step back
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But the Red-Green Alliance's nature and environment spokesperson, Pil Christensen, is still concerned that the sika deer disrupts the balance of Denmark's original nature.
- We face a huge task in terms of restoring our wild nature, she points out.
Therefore, she supports the minister's line as a starting point.
- But it would be good, with this report, for the ministry to step in and revisit this, says Pil Christensen.
> We will continue the fight for the sika deer, and whether that will be
> with questions or consultations or motions or anything else, we haven't
> decided yet. But we won't stop here.
> Peter Kofod, political spokesperson for the Danish People's Party
The Social Liberal Party's nature and animal welfare spokesperson, Line Krogh Lay, also understands the minister's approach. But, she says:
- I think the report could provide reason for us to take a step back and think a bit about whether we should do things differently in Denmark.
However, The Alternative, the Conservatives, and the Danish People's Party are so dissatisfied with the minister's reaction to the new Danish study that they intend to pursue the matter.
- I will ask a question to the minister, so he is forced to address what the report concludes, because we should not shoot a large number of healthy animals without being completely sure it is the right thing to do, says Frederik Bloch Münster.
- We will continue the fight for the sika deer, and whether that will be with questions or consultations or motions or anything else, we haven't decided yet. But we won't stop here, Peter Kofod from the Danish People's Party also assures.
In the video here, you can hear how Christian Rabjerg Madsen relates to the new study on whether sika deer and red deer interbreed in Denmark.
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'Downright stupid'
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Christian Rabjerg Madsen has pointed out how Denmark, within the EU framework, voted against classifying the sika deer as an invasive species.
In that way, he believes the report's conclusions strengthen the Danish approach, where the deer are indeed eradicated in the long term but are allowed to live longer than the EU's actual deadline next summer.
- Excuse me. That is simply downright stupid, what the minister is saying, is the reaction from Peter Kofod.
- In my view, it is completely wrong to shoot the sika deer. It is brutal. It serves no purpose. So it is solely because they do not want to change what they have decided, he rants.
He also points out that with the planned culls in the autumn, there is not much time left.
- Really, I would just dream that the minister said: 'Listen here. There are new arguments on the table. We are pausing this,' says Peter Kofod and adds:
- It is irreversible, once you have shot the last ones.
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