Red Deer slaughter is not the answer
These animals are a protected species and deserve professional management by a properly established authority.
However, Ireland does not have such an authority, and there are habitats of Red Deer from Donegal to Kerry and in the Wicklow area. Increasing numbers of Red Deer have led to rampant invasion of farms and public lands in search of food.
In the Killarney area, the animals have been forced from their mountain habitat by the competitive presence of cattle, sheep, new forestry and rhododendrons, all of which have reduced the grazing for deer.
It is time that the management of deer throughout Ireland, and particularly in south Kerry, should become the focus of the interests affected.
Bodies such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the IFA, Coillte and others ought to agree to structures which will protect both the deer and the public.
Recently we have seen disgraceful newspaper headlines calling for negative measures to control the movement of deer in south Kerry. Hunting licences were called for, and these would only result in ‘Wild West,’ indiscriminate slaughter.
There was no proposal for statutory professional structures to ensure proper deer counts and culls and a study of the reasons why deer roam from their habitat in search of food - a phenomenon in south Kerry.
The Kerry Deer Society would welcome a meeting of all interested parties and government personnel. We object to the proposal to lift the ban on hunting Red Deer. The hunting ban has saved our indigenous Red Deer in the past from extinction. Red and Sika Deer are a protected species.
Counting and culling of Red and Sika Deer needs professional management to oversee the operation and to record numbers in sex ratio which would be vital to a satisfactory solution. Any other course would encourage poaching. Deer crossing roads in search of food is another issue in need of urgent attention.
Noel Grimes
Chairman
Kerry Deer Society
56 Park Drive
Killarney
Co Kerry
