The Dutch population is growing fast in The Hague. According to Van den Broek, this is partly because someone is feeding the animals. Something that the foundation strongly advises against. “They have to find their own food. Otherwise you make the animals dependent. Often people also give bread, while they need proteins. They are carnivores.”
She also wants to emphasize that elastic bands lying around on the street are very dangerous for storks. They mistake them for worms, which can kill them. “Two years ago an autopsy was performed in Utrecht on two dead storks. They turned out to have a ball of rubber bands in their stomach.”