Gelderland provincial council has agreed to cull a number of wild deer to ensure that only manageable numbers use the special wildlife bridge over a motorway and railway, local paper De Stentor reports on Thursday.

The wildlife bridge was built specially for the deer and other animals but locals in the towns of Hulshorst and Hierden are worried too many animals will use the crossing, leading to nuisance and crop damage.
Some 25 deer graze in the vicinity of the bridge and 15 of them are on the hit list, according to local animal rights party councillor Luuk van der Veer. He wants the bridge to remain closed until the issue has been solved.
Too many animals
The bridge was built to stop road accidents and expand the territory open to the deer but locals won a pledge from the provincial council to ensure not too many animals actually use it, De Stentor says.
Provincial executive Jan Jacob van Dijk told De Stentor the agreement is very clear. There are too many deer in the Veluwe national park region and some have to be shot, he said. ‘That can be done near the Hulshorst wildlife bridge or another one,’ the council official is quoted as saying.
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