Licenses to shoot protected red deer in the vicinity of Killarney National Park are being sold to American hunters for “substantial sums”, it has been claimed.

Red deer stags in Killarney have become so “subdued” by the current spell of warm weather, they are taking a break from their annual mating ritual and can scarcely roar, let alone fight.

Unprecedented poaching is threatening the deer population in many parts of the country, according to hunters.

AFTER a recent three-week period where the headless carcasses of five deer were found around Killarney, another similarly disfigured animal raised further fears for the safety of the species.