Shooting of Killarney red deer to be restricted

Moves are under way by the National Parks and Wildlife Service to tighten up the permit system which allows farmers to shoot Killarney red deer.

The Wild Deer Association of Ireland, which is concerned with deer management, as well as conservation, is concerned at the number of permits issued by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in 2016. The section 42 permits, which the department says are only issued to farmers whose crops and lands are “seriously” worried by deer, have almost doubled, yet no census of the deer population has been completed, the association say.

The tightening of regulations comes after claims in December that licences to shoot the red stags are ending up in the hands of American hunter tourists for “substantial sums”.