Donal Hickey: Nobody knows exactly how many deer are in Ireland

Hundreds of Red & Sika Deer in Killarney. Nationally, under the Wildlife Acts, annual licences are required to legally hunt deer in the open season from September to February. More than 6,200 deer hunting licences were issued last season. Picture: Don MacMonagle

In the space of a year, a record 55,008 wild deer have been shot under licence from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). Nobody knows exactly how many deer are in Ireland, but the population has grown hugely, with forestry expansion providing extra cover.

Twice in one week, I’ve come upon dead deer on the roadside, obviously hit by vehicles. There are widespread reports of traffic accidents involving deer, with one driver believed to have died whilst trying to avoid a deer.

Stories abound of people finding deer on their lawns; of farmers complaining of broken fences and deer devouring their grass; damage to trees; and risks of spreading Lyme disease. In places where deer were never previously seen, they’re now as common as bluebells in May.

We’re hearing ever more strident calls for deer population control and the big challenge is to get numbers down to sustainable levels.

But there’s much more to deer control than simply culling — and a Deer Strategy Management Group, chaired by farmer Teddy Cashman, of White’s Cross, Cork, is currently examining a wide range of issues.

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Government departments are taking part and the views of interested parties are being sought so that deer can be managed sustainably.

Irish Red Deer Hinds on the shoreline of Lough Lein, Killarney National Park. Picture: Valerie O'Sullivan

In Killarney National Park, which has been having problems with excess deer for many years, the NPWS conducts culls, taking out around 200 deer annually.

Nationally, under the Wildlife Acts, annual licences are required to legally hunt deer in the open season from September to February. Over 6,200 deer hunting licences were issued last season.

It was the second successive season 6,000-plus licences were issued and it is anticipated that similar numbers will be applied for to allow hunters to shoot during the 2023/24 deer open season.

According to NPWS data to the Irish Deer Commission (IDC), a record 55,008 wild deer were culled in the 12-month period to February 2022 — up 24% from the previous record set in 2019 when 44,381 deer were culled. Hunters must make an annual declaration to NPWS stating the number of deer shot by county, sex, and species.

Around 70% of the national deer cull came from counties Wicklow, Cork, Waterford, Tipperary, Kerry and Galway, with Wicklow accounting for 36%.

Damien Hannigan of the IDC said the actual cull is likely to be significantly higher as the official cull total does not include wild deer killed illegally through poaching, or the growing numbers of deer killed on our roads.

Application forms and guidance notes for the 2023/2024 deer hunting season are now available on the NPWS website and people who are interested are asked to apply before July.