Kerry cull targets Red Deer: Parks Service must do better

In recent weeks the RSPCA trumpeted the “incredible story” of Marina, a seal returned to the wild after “six months of rehabilitation she so urgently needed”. On the same day the charity defended culling seals by Scottish salmon farms, an industry that generously supports the RSPCA.

The same dynamic, or a version of it, is in play in the National Park in Killarney where an intensive deer cull is ongoing. Red Deer are targetted along with the non-native sika deer, according to the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

This cull follows complaints about the impact deer are having in the area and an appalling situation where sika deer starved to death on Innisfallen Island because of over-population. However, that does not justify inappropriate, dangerous and lazy night-time shooting of any deer.

Neither does it justify targetting relatively scarce red deer.

The ubiquitous sika should be completely removed before any red deer are culled.

If this is beyond the capabilities or ambitions of the National Parks and Wildlife Service there are many responsible and capable amateur stalkers who could make an invaluable contribution to this unfortunate but inevitable process, one already criticised by the Irish Deer Commission.

Deer populations are growing and control programmes are unavoidable but the National Parks and Wildlife Service must set far higher standards if, unlike the RSPCA, it is to remain above reproach.