An ecology experiment gone wrong?

[Catherine]

Holland set aside a 5,000 hectare area as a nature reserve. This area has been allowed to "rewild". A number of large grazing animals like Red Deer, Konik Horses and Heck Cattle have been released into the fenced reserve to multiply and live free. 
After a couple of mild winters the numbers had increased a lot and then with a harsh winter the animals were starving.
A number died naturally and many were killed to keep them from starving.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...als-starve

The idea of the rewilding is good and even with the difficulties it is still good. However ecosystems are very complex and it takes more that add a few large animals to bring an area back into a wild state.

The project is good, but they over simplified it. They should have introduced a predator. A small pack of wolves would have kept things in balance. The project is still a good one although the deaths of so many animals is very sad and should not have happened.  Their numbers needed to be controlled in the early staged of rewilding. The vegetation has not had time to find its balance. Seeing that there was a problem the government should have fed the animals and even removed some. 

Killing starving animals might have been done as a kindness, but things should not have been allowed to reach such a desperate state.

I hope the rewilding is allowed to continue, but I also hope the government will show responsibility toward the project and manage it better.