The Minister for Nature and Animal Welfare, Christian Rabjerg Madsen (Social Democrats), is staying the course.
Even though a new study dispels the concern that sika deer are interbreeding with the native Danish red deer, the sika deer must still be eradicated – as dictated by the EU.
"We have implemented the rules as leniently as possible, and we will continue to do so," he says.
It has been about a year since the EU placed the small, originally Asian deer on the list of unwanted invasive species, because crossbreeding between it and red deer has been observed in, for example, Scotland and Ireland.
In Denmark, where there have been no reports of such crossbreeding, this sparked a heated nature policy debate, which Christian Rabjerg Madsen's predecessor, Jeppe Bruus (Social Democrats), shut down with what he also called a "lenient" approach (https://www.ft.dk/samling/20251/spoergsmaal/s367/svar/2191112/3116467.pdf).
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What is the "lenient" approach to the sika deer?
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The former minister for the green tripartite, Jeppe Bruus (Social Democrats), formulated the Danish handling as follows:
"This means that we will not initiate active control of sika deer living in the wild, and that owners of sika deer behind fences can keep them until the sika deer die naturally, provided they ensure that they do not breed and cannot escape."
Source: The Danish Parliament (https://www.ft.dk/samling/20251/spoergsmaal/s367/svar/2191112/3116467.pdf)
But now, a comprehensive study of blood samples from both sika deer and red deer from across the country shows that the two deer species have not mixed genes in Denmark, even though they have lived side by side for over 125 years.
"It is not happening," states Niels Tommerup, a senior researcher and genetics expert at the University of Copenhagen.
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'Positive'
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This is good news, according to Christian Rabjerg Madsen.
"It is positive if the experts can now conclude that there is no major risk from the sika deer. I think it supports that Denmark has chosen a lenient line," he says.
In practice, however, the lenient line means that deer parks across the country must shoot their male deer so that no more sika calves can be born.
Until now, many places have been stalling for time, awaiting the DNA study and the minister's reaction. But with an EU deadline next summer, time is running out, and at Holbæk Deer Park, for example, they are preparing to shoot the male deer this autumn so that no more calves can be born.
At Marselisborg Deer Park, the number of sika deer that must be shot each year to keep the enclosed population down has been increased, so that over a number of years they will become fewer and fewer before they are gone.
Things are moving faster at Jægersborg Deer Park, where half of the sika population was shot last year, and the rest will be shot over the coming weeks.
And this is not really with the government's blessing, Christian Rabjerg Madsen points out.
"Denmark voted against putting the sika deer on the list of invasive species, so in that way, this is grist for our mill," he says, referring to the new report's conclusion.
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> This is an additional scientific argument for maintaining the line that
> the government and I will continue.
> Christian Rabjerg Madsen (Social Democrats), Minister for Nature and Animal Welfare
However, he does not believe it is "obvious" for Denmark to seek a dispensation from the EU to be allowed to keep sika deer, as Austria is attempting (https://www.euractiv.com/news/austria-pushes-to-keep-farming-invasive-deer/).
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Will not interfere
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So, should they still be eradicated or not?
"We will stay within the EU's rules, but we will not go out and kill them in the wild."
So, when the Danish Nature Agency tells us that they will shoot the last part of a unique sika population in Jægersborg Deer Park within a few weeks, will you put a stop to it?
"No. The sika deer is being regulated as part of the completely normal population regulation in Jægersborg, which the Danish Nature Agency is responsible for, so I will not interfere in that."
But why not, when the main argument has now been shown to be incorrect – it has not been possible to see that there is a hybrid population?
"It is positive that it cannot be seen that a hybrid population is emerging in Denmark. That would be harmful. So this is an additional scientific argument for maintaining the line that the government and I will continue," says Christian Rabjerg Madsen.
While the risk of crossbreeding between sika deer and Danish red deer is the main argument for their eradication, there are also other arguments behind it.
According to the Agency for Green Land Conversion and Water Environment (https://sgav.dk/alle-nyheder/nyheder/2025/dec/farvel-til-sikahjort-i-danmark), sika deer, for example, compete with other deer species for food.
There are approximately 2,100 sika deer in Denmark. This corresponds to less than 1 percent of the total deer population.
The reason that no crossbreeding between red deer and sika deer exists in Denmark could be very practical. Danish sika deer are quite small, while the red deer are larger than, for example, in Ireland and Scotland, where so-called hybrids have been seen.
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