A bold and persuasive thinker, Mr. Vera argued that the grassy areas should be cropped not by domestic sheep and cattle but by beasts resembling their wild ancestors. As these species were extinct, he settled on konik horses, Polish descendants of the tarpan, and Heck cattle, which had been bred in Germany in an attempt to recreate the aurochs.

Small groups of these animals, as well as red deer, were introduced in the 1980s and 1990s. By three years ago, their numbers had soared to a total of about 4,000, with deer by far the most numerous. In the last couple of years, there has been a decline, with about 2,700 animals counted in April before the breeding season.

As in the Serengeti or any other natural ecosytem, a large proportion of the animals die each year. But the deaths at Oostvaardersplassen, mostly because of starvation when food runs out in the winter, have turned out to be enormously controversial in the Netherlands. The preserve became a subject of intense political debate in the news media and government in the harsh winters earlier this century.

While access to the Oostvaardersplassen is restricted, trains run frequently along the perimeter of the area, giving passengers a view of dead animals or whatever else is transpiring.

“A lot of people were visually confronted with dying animals in the winter,” said Frauke Ohl, a professor of animal welfare at Utrecht University. “It is an unusual thing that people can see these things happen.”

Critics, including animal welfare advocates and hunting groups, argue that to allow animals that are fenced in — albeit in a large enclosure — to starve is cruel and immoral and that the numbers need to be proactively reduced. “Hundreds of horses, cattle and deer die each year from famine,” said Maarten Frankenhuis, a veterinarian and a former director of the Artis Zoo in Amsterdam. “This project is our national shame.”

Responding to public pressure, the government convened an international panel of experts, including Ms. Ohl, which recommended in 2010 that animals should not be put through the suffering of dying by starvation but should be shot if they look like they will not make it through the winter. Now, as the grass stops growing and food becomes scarce, the rangers monitor the animals closely and shoot those that look like they are not going to survive.