Emilia Jarochowska 🇺🇦🌱<p>To a biologist, largely trained thanks to <a href="https://circumstances.run/tags/biodiversity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>biodiversity</span></a> preserved and protected in national parks, the understanding of a "national park" in the Netherlands is bizarre. Animals are referred to as "game", non-native species are introduced based on their entertainment value for the public, and scientists are relegated to an advisory role. Hoge <a href="https://circumstances.run/tags/Veluwe" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Veluwe</span></a>, arguably the prettiest national park in the Netherlands, has done some impressive mental gymnastics to try to convince themselves (and visitors) that <a href="https://circumstances.run/tags/wolves" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>wolves</span></a>, native to this area, are a mortal danger to the exotic species kept in the park for "selective hunting". The park is managed by a baron, a bunch of politicians and businessmen with a curiously high representation of the military. I do wonder if one or two lawyers couldn't be swapped for an actual scientist in the field of mammal research, because the "Advisory Committee on Nature, Landscape and Cultural History" does not include a single one. For those of you with high tolerance for BS in the fields of <a href="https://circumstances.run/tags/biology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>biology</span></a>, <a href="https://circumstances.run/tags/conservation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>conservation</span></a> or <a href="https://circumstances.run/tags/ecology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ecology</span></a>, here's the park's statement: <a href="https://www.hogeveluwe.nl/en/discover-the-park/nature-and-landscape/wolf" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">hogeveluwe.nl/en/discover-the-</span><span class="invisible">park/nature-and-landscape/wolf</span></a></p>