Animal rights campaigners go to court today in an effort to stop the culling of nearly 2,000 deer in the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve near Almere.

Flevoland has given the green light to the cull, which is part of efforts to limit the number of large mammals on the reserve following last winter’s mass starvation, and to encourage more bird life.

Experts told the Volkskrant that the campaigners could be in with a chance because protected animals, like red deer, can only be shot for very specific reasons, such as posing a danger to traffic or damage to farmland.

‘By putting a fence around the reserve, the province has cut off that line of defence,’ Groningen University professor Han Olff told the paper.

A committee set up to look into the future of the reserve said earlier this year the animal population should be reduced drastically and that the wetland part of the reserve should be expanded.

The aim is to reduce the population of deer to 490. That means that almost 2,000 deer will have to be shot, the Volkskrant reported on Monday.

A large number of the ponies which live on the reserve will be moved to new locations, and some will be taken abroad, but the details are still being worked out.

More than half the 5,230 deer, ponies and cattle living on the reserve died last winter – most of which were shot by forestry commission staff because they were starving.

Officials want to start the cull this month.