Konik horses on Texel are not going to the slaughterhouse

A group of konik horses that cause nuisance in a nature reserve on Texel is nevertheless not slaughtered. Staatsbosbeheer has decided to do this. Thousands of people had signed a petition to keep the animals alive.

The stallions were brought to Texel last year because there was a surplus of konik horses in Flevoland. The animals on the island caused a nuisance: they bothered visitors and devoured nature. Staatsbosbeheer could not find a suitable new location for the animals and considered letting the horses finish.

That bothered many people. But the petition they started was not the reason for Staatsbosbeheer to keep the animals alive, says forest ranger Anne Sprenkeling. NH News. “When it turned out that there is no other area for these horses, we went to look further and now we come up with this solution.”

Grids

Staatsbosbeheer has taken several measures to ensure that the horses cause less nuisance in the nature reserve. For example, in vulnerable dune areas, grids are placed so that the animals that share them can no longer eat bald. The horses may also no longer be fed by visitors. “That makes them tame, that makes them intrusive and that is precisely the problem,” says Sprenkeling.

If visitors to the nature reserve continue to feed the konik horses, there is a chance that the animals still have to be removed. “Of course we don’t want that,” says the forester. “We are also going to put some extra signs to point out to the people. We are confident that it will be okay then.”

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