Denmark’s minister for nature and animal welfare, Christian Rabjerg Madsen (S), says sika deer must still be removed under EU rules, even after a new DNA study found no interbreeding with native Danish red deer.
DR reported on August 16, 2026 that the Social Democrat minister is keeping the current course. He described Denmark’s implementation of the EU rules as lenient and said that approach will continue.
The new study examined blood samples from both sika deer and red deer across Denmark. According to DR, it found no genetic mixing between the two species, despite more than 125 years of coexistence. Niels Tommerup, senior researcher and genetics expert at the University of Copenhagen, stated that it does not happen.
The EU added sika deer to the Union list of invasive alien species after hybridisation was documented in countries such as Scotland and Ireland. The European Commission’s 2025 list update entered into force on August 7, 2025, banning keeping and breeding of listed species. Denmark voted against the listing but is bound by it, per DR.
In practice, deer parks across the country must shoot their male sika deer to prevent new calves. Holbæk Dyrehave is preparing to cull its males this autumn. Marselisborg Dyrehave has increased its annual cull to reduce the enclosed population over several years.
At Jægersborg Dyrehave, half the sika population was shot last year, and the remainder is due to be shot within weeks. A local notice from Naturstyrelsen, dated December 12, 2025, said around 140 sika deer in the park would be removed gradually during the 2025-26 culling season.
Rabjerg Madsen told DR he will not intervene in that work, which he described as ordinary population management under Naturstyrelsen’s responsibility. He also said the government will not rush out and cull sika deer in the wild. The findings, he said, support the line the government has chosen.
Austria is seeking an EU exemption to continue farming sika deer, as reported by Euractiv. The Danish minister said he does not consider it obvious that Denmark should apply for a similar derogation.
Denmark has around 2,100 sika deer, corresponding to under 1 percent of the country’s total deer population, according to DR. One possible explanation for the absence of hybrids is size. Danish sika deer are small, while Danish red deer are larger than those in Ireland and Scotland.
Why now
Many deer parks had delayed action while waiting for the DNA results and the minister’s response, DR reported. An EU deadline next summer now requires the parks to phase out their sika populations. The Copenhagen Post reported in December 2025 that a transition period of up to two years applies, with breeding already banned.
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