Groups of large red stags, up to a dozen in one instance, have been spotted on main roads in Killarney town amid a controversial culling programme in the Killarney National Park being conducted at the end of the deer hunting season.

The forecaster says that Storm Ciara "will produce very strong southwest winds with mean speeds of 65 to 80km/h and gusts generally up to 130km/h.

An ongoing cull is resulting in a major reduction in the deer population in one of the country’s most visited natural attractions.

Inshore fishermen in Kerry are calling for an immediate cull of the seal population of the Blaskets and surrounding coastal areas, claiming that the damage to fish stocks and nets is now simply “unsustainable”.

A Connemara farmer has challenged the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to take him to court over works he is carrying out on a special area of conservation.

Zoos may be required to provide inspectors with copies of inventories showing how many animals died in their care from next year, following a move by Tayto Park that kept the information out of the public domain.

Distressing images of young, red deer stags in Killarney National Park, some with deformed antlers and clearly unbalanced, have begun circulating on social media.

The average dairy farmer can expect to pay as much as €600 extra per annum for contractors, within ten years, after the Budget brought a 1.6% carbon tax increase in agri-diesel charges, which is expected to be repeated every year for the next ten years.

Wildlife crime in Ireland is on the increase and deer are at huge risk, particularly in counties like Kerry, Tipperary and Wicklow, the Irish Deer Commission has said.

As the fate of farmers is discussed more and more in the contexts of Brexit, Mercosur, and global warming, let’s not forget that farmers are the custodians of the countryside.

Gardaí have teamed up with the PSNI in an operation aimed at tackling fish poaching in Strabane.

Drones are to be used by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to manage the risk of wildfires.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has teamed up with the State-owned forestry business Coillte to combat wildfires using drones.

May 12 is the deadline for nominations to find Ireland’s Farming For Nature ambassadors for 2019.

HAVING a little time to spare on a visit to Cork last week, a walk into the UCC campus from the Western Road side was an enticing option. The freshly-greening trees were the magnet, surely one of the best views the college has to offer.

The local chamber of tourism and commerce yesterday organised a “mountain meithal” to try to repel the relentless invasion of rhododendrons choking Killarney’s neglected national park.

Waterways Ireland now believes the sighting is actually the native Irish otter.

Pine martens have rich, brown fur; rounded ears and long, bushy tails. They eat a wide variety of food, including mice and rats, fruit, birds, insects and carrion.

Amy Lewis Drainage, farm intensification, upland burning, land abandonment, afforestation have decimated curlews

A “significant” cull of both the Killarney red deer, the country’s oldest, largest mammal, and the non-native sika, is taking place in the Killarney National Park.

Who are the farmers who manage their land and livestock in a way that benefits nature?

A €257m, 10-year tourism masterplan for our national parks has been a long time coming, writes Caroline O’Doherty.

Fears have again been expressed about the safety of the foundations of St Mary’s Cathedral in Killarney due to a build-up of silt in the Kerry town’s River Deenagh.

Faced with another summer of congestion in Killarney, local representatives as well as the town’s jarveys are coming up with solutions.

People with even a casual familiarity with one of our best national parks will be aware of two chronic problems — the growth of the deer population and rhododendron infestation, writes Donal Hickey.

The country’s biggest wild deer association has said it had warned the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) about the condition of deer on Inisfallen Island in Lough Lein in Killarney, Co Kerry, in December 2014, “but with no follow up”.

A number of emaciated sika deer on Inisfallen, the monastic island in the heart of the Killarney National Park, have been culled after some deer were found to have starved to death.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) has unveiled a €20m flood relief plan which will protect around 90 homes and businesses in two adjoining villages in mid-Cork.

Zoologists at Trinity College Dublin have uncovered new ranging patterns in badgers which might help stop the spread of TB in cattle.

The first 80 farmers, with 4,134 hectares designated for breeding hen harrier, have been selected from expressions of interest submitted in December.

It’s probably safe to say that Irish red deer have never been photographed as much during their mating or, more commonly known, rutting season.

A new book analyses our relationship with the country’s rapidly disappearing natural environment, writes Anne Lucey