An online petition has started to protect rare animals living near Evoluon in Eindhoven.
The petition was started by Ara Lautenbach, a pseudonym for a woman from Eindhoven. Rare crested ducks and a protected peregrine falcon species live in the park grounds near Evoluon. Ara hopes that the petition will encourage people to take the health and survival of the animals into account.
“I have been feeding three Dutch tufted ducks for two years now and noticed that one had a damaged leg”, Ara says. “When I approached a veterinary service, I received an email from Evoluon’s director. He said that if I contact any animal organisations again, I will no longer have access to the Evoluon grounds.”
Evoluon director becoming discouraged
Franc Dubbelman is Evoluon’s director. When asked via a telephone call, he said he does not know anything about the petition. He immediately knew who was behind it. One can hear the dejection in his voice. He says, “There is a peregrine falcon breeding in the tower”.
Dubbelman claims he was told by a bird protection organisation that it ‘could not hurt’ the birds if events continue to take place at Evoluon. This is because ‘the peregrine falcon, itself, chose to breed in a city environment. “So, it is only a good thing if there are events and there is a buzz.”
There has been repeated contact between Ara and Dubbelman. “In the meantime, she has been threatened with denied access to the site”, Dubbelman says. “The animals are not suffering, and we have had the proper consultation with, for example, animal protection.’
Fear of lack of space
Ara is not the only person who is worried about the Evoluon animals. At the time of writing, her petition has 45 signatures. ‘I fear that the animals will no longer have space to live or run freely on the wide ring road because of renovation on the site,’ she says.
Source: studio040.nl
Translator: Rachael
Editor: Melinda
