Oh deer, another foreign invader

ACCORDING to Dr Ferdia Marnel of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Ireland has a new wild mammal.

Muntjac are on the loose in Co Wicklow. There have been three reliable sightings of them to date. However, this is not good news; foresters claim that muntjacs destroy young trees. These animals don’t belong in Ireland and whoever brought them in has behaved most irresponsibly.

Also known as the ‘barking deer’, the muntjac is an elegant creature. Tiny by deer standards, a mature male is less than a metre long from nose to tail and weighs only 15kg. For comparison, a fallow deer buck, in the Phoenix Park, might reach 80kg. Muntjac have chestnut coats, pale bellies and rabbit-like tails. Tiny tusks project downwards from the upper jaw. The male’s short antlers resemble a goat’s horns. Females don’t have antlers. Broadleaved or mixed woodland is the preferred habitat. Saplings, ivy, fruit, acorns and berries feature in their diet.