The Irish Examiner View: Neglect the cause

A deer cull is underway in Killarney National Park and at least 15 animals have been removed over recent days.

Animal rights activists will protest at the idea of any cull but at least this one is being carried out in daylight which should mean that any injured animals can be dealt with quickly. Animals injured during night-time culling can be difficult to track and may suffer inordinately.

The scale of the current cull may seem dramatic but it is the culmination of many years of poor, under-resourced management bordering on neglect. The Irish Deer Commission, criticising the “mass culls” called for a return to the practices abandoned in 2009 park resources were greatly reduced.

This situation may have been allowed to develop too because of cultural reluctance to manage wildlife in a way that protects habitats and species in a way that guarantees a future for viable populations. It is hard not to think that the soaring seal population along the south west coast is not another difficult, stressful problem in the making.