Rotvos

The documentary Rotvos demonstrates how complicated environmental management can be in the Netherlands and what the role is of the proverbial sly fox. Filmmakers Tijs Tinbergen and Jan Musch, who previously made (award-winning) nature documentaries, follow the research of the 'damn fox' in the European hamster reserve in Limburg. Using snares and traps, the foxes are caught and, provided with a transmitter, released again to gain insight in their territorial and foraging behaviour. A similar investigation has been initiated in Waterland, where the fox allegedly threatens protected meadow birds. Through casual conversations, the viewer gets an impression of the developments in Dutch nature and nature management, like the abolition of the fox hunt in 2006. The camera soberly captures images of gnawed-at prey animals, the autopsy of a fox that died of a mysterious cause and the reduction of a nest of six to two cubs by people who obviously love nature.