The government wants to introduce a new list of pets and hobbies before 2024. This then defines which mammals can be kept recreationally in our country. Over three hundred animal species have been evaluated for this by an advisory board of independent scientists. Among other things, it considered the risk animal conservation posed to animal welfare and people’s safety.

In the end, there are thirty species in the list that can still be kept in our country. All other species, with exceptions, are no longer allowed to frolic around petting zoos and in campgrounds or parks.

Fallow and red deer stand angered many Not on the list They don’t thrive in a small space, according to scientists. Alpacas and llamas, for example, because they have now been domesticated. Animals not on the list do not have to be culled immediately. They can survive until they die, as long as they don’t reproduce. With this said, the list, as it stands now, would effectively mean the end of nearly 250 deer parks in our country. In addition, many people keep deer in their yards and often also walk them in their petting zoos.

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SGP and BBB are crucial. SGP Member of Parliament Roelof Bisschop said they hoped Minister of Agriculture Adema “will look again at the list”. “We don’t want to make life difficult for fanciers who are unnecessarily engaged in the hobby.” PVV MP Dion Graus is satisfied with the list, but hopes an exception can be made for “good” deer parks. “Deer simply enjoy it better in deer camps than in the wild,” says Graus.

However, Minister Adema does not want to give up. “I understand that deer in deer camps raise questions. It gives you a kind of Bambi feeling. The fact that there are no animals on the list that we expected to be on the list doesn’t mean the list is wrong.” According to the minister, the list was drawn up very carefully. “Deer are meant to run wild and not be confined to a small camp. They have no room for their natural behavior there. I can only rely on science.”

It seems that the majority of the House of Representatives would like to follow the Minister’s path, so the attempted bailout by the SGP and the BBB may be in vain. However, Eric Havercourt MP for the VVD was reassured by the minister’s promise to keep the list “dynamic”, “so that an animal can be removed or added if necessary”. “Science leads,” Havercourt told this site. “This way, deer could eventually still be on the menu if a future study shows there is a lower risk.”

So deer camps won’t disappear all at once. “They may continue to exist for some time,” says the minister. “But if a deer dies, it cannot be replaced.” Once the list of mammals is presented in early 2024, the Minister will consider a similar list for birds, reptiles and amphibians. Because, as Adima concludes, “not all animals are suitable as pets.”

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