The 100 or so semi-wild horses rescued from a tiny patch of land after being cut off by floods will not end up in on the dinner table after all. A spokesman for Frisian nature organisation It Fryske Gea, which owned the land where the horses were kept, said it had been a misunderstanding.

The local Ferwerderadiel council had been overwhelmed with phone calls from people angry that the horses, rescued under the glare of the world’s media, could now end up being eaten.