Living harmoniously with large mammals in the Netherlands
In recent decades, there has been an increase in the number of large mammals in the Netherlands. Partly as a result of this, these animals are once again playing a greater role in our society and ecosystems. In light of this development, scientists and social partners involved in the WildlifeNL project (2023-2030) are investigating how humans and large mammals can coexist more effectively.
An important issue
The return of large mammals to the Netherlands concerns a diverse group of animal species, such as free-roaming cattle, deer, predators and more. Their increased presence in our landscape means that there are more encounters between people who live and work in the vicinity of nature, or enjoy walking there, and the animals that live here in the wild.
These interactions often result in positive experiences, but can sometimes also cause tension. The changed situation thus raises an important question: how can we deal with this in a positive way, and what will our future coexistence with large mammals look like?
Human-animal behaviour
To answer these questions, our research focuses primarily on interactions between humans and animals. WildlifeNL considers the human-animal behaviour that occurs during encounters to be an important factor in how pleasant these encounters are, and expects that a better understanding of this behaviour will provide a valuable addition to current policy regarding large mammals.
Our research project, therefore, aims to create a new approach in which managing human-animal behaviour can help to steer encounters in the right direction. We do this primarily by combining insights from social science, public administration, philosophy, ecology and technology. We will also apply these findings to develop new technologies, administrative structures, and communication strategies in collaboration with stakeholders and test them in practice. The latter will take place in our Living Labs.
This website is part of the project WildlifeNL of the research program National Science Agenda, which is (co) funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
Photo header: Karsten Reiniers, ARK Rewilding Nederland