Government called on to implement national deer management strategy
The IFA has called for a pilot programme conducted in Co Wicklow to be rolled out on a national basis. However, the Wild Deer Association of Ireland (WDAI) says the State first needs to conduct a deer census to establish whether the national deer herd is growing or decreasing.
IFA president Eddie Downey said: “Grass is disappearing; crops, forests and fences have been damaged, the safety of farm families is at risk and the health of their herds jeopardised. The inaction by a number of government departments on this issue up to now has been inexcusable. As the deer population continues to expand, these problems are arising for farmers in every region of the country.”
Mr Downey recently visited a farm in Wicklow affected by the number of deer in the area. He also held meetings with local farmers. He said the IFA has identified the many problems arising from the failure to maintain the deer herd at a sustainable level, and made a submission over a year ago as part of the department’s deer management policy.
Mr Downey said Coillte and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), which are significant landowners, have to step up to their responsibilities in this area: “It is ludicrous of NPWS to suggest there was a danger to the deer population, when the opposite is clearly the case. We need to see a targeted programme that safeguards the deer herd and protects farmers from the problems of too many deer.”
However, WDAI secretary Damien Hannigan said his fellow members — primarily hunters and landowners, many of them also IFA members — believe deer numbers are in decline.
Wicklow was responsible for a third of last year’s entire national deer cull. Any national strategy needs to take account of regional variations, Mr Hannigan said.
He said there was a 36% annual fall in applications, during the 2012-13 hunting season, for Section 42 permits under which farmers with lands damaged by deer request the right the nominate a hunter to carry out a cull.
Mr Hannigan said: “Nobody knows how many deer we have. A deer census would take a number of years, to allow us to match deer numbers with habitats.”
The WDAI has a joint agreement with the IFA whereby landowners experiencing an issue with deer on their land can contact regional IFA members to gain access to a trained hunter.
The WDAI’s research suggests deer are responsible for 1% of damage on lands within their habitats. The rest of the damage is caused by other wildlife and livestock.
“A lot of our members, including IFA landowners, are telling the same story about falling numbers,” said Mr Hannigan. “But for a small number of farmers, the truth is that one deer is one deer too many.
“We need to conduct a deer census. There has been a lot of illegal poaching, so we do need a strategy. Killing these animals is not the answer.”
