Mouflon
Explanation
At the moment, we are still working on the new animal park. The municipality of Maastricht is working in collaboration with GaiaZOO. When the enclosure is finished, red deer, mouflons, and pheasants will be coming to Tapijn. The grass in the animal park has not grown in yet due to the drought last summer and the overrun of construction. The animal park, therefore, is not yet suitable to offer the red deer and mouflons a pleasant place to live.
Relationship with humans
Why we do what we do
The status of the mouflon in the Netherlands can be confusing. It is not a native species and is, therefore, exotic. In principle, this means that the animal can be shot. However, the landowner has the last word and can decide that a population of a specific size may remain.
In the Netherlands, herds of mouflons are found in a number of places. Currently, they live on the Hoge Veluwe, in the Amsterdam Water Supply Dunes, near Vierhouten, and on the Wekeromse Zand. These animals all come from a herd that was released in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in the 1920s.
The last natural populations in Corsica and Sardinia are endangered and consist of several hundred animals, while herds introduced elsewhere are thriving.