Lutra 48(2)_van 't Hof & van Langevelde_comments_2005

Comments: Reintroduction of the otter in the Netherlands: implementation of international guidelines in the pre-release phase

Van Liere and Van Liere (2005) claim in their reaction to our article (van ‘t Hof & van Langevelde 2004), that the reintroduction project of the otter (Lutra lutra) into the Netherlands violated IUCN requirements. Subsequently, they assert that, under these guidelines, the reintroduction programme should be considered for immediate abandonment. In our opinion, this conclusion seems to be largely based on the implementation phase of the reintroduction process. Van ‘t Hof and Van Langevelde (2004) assessed the reintroduction process in the light of the IUCN guidelines, with emphasis on the pre-release phases in the proposed area. Hence, Van Liere and Van Liere (2005) seem to draw conclusions that extend beyond the intention of our article....