Laura Anderson
There’s a biodiversity dilemma brewing in Britain. Deers are taking over our landscapes and wreaking havoc, yet conservationists can’t agree on a course of action. So what are our options and why are deer causing such an issue?
The population of deer has skyrocketed to 2 million - a number which hasn’t been seen in 1,000 years. Since 1999, the population has almost doubled and these pesky animals are having a big impact on both our crops and wildlife. Causing a total of £4.5 million worth of damage to both plantations and commercial woodlands it’s clear that we have to do something.
This increase in population is greatly due to the deer having no natural predators. Historically, they were hunted by bears, lynxes, wolves and humans. However, humans no longer hunt deer to such an extent due to improvements in farming and food imports from across the world. Whilst the rest have gone extinct in the British Isles. The UK is the perfect home for deer, supporting a total of six species: red deer, roe deer, fallow deer, muntjacs, chinese water deer and sika deer. Yet only two of these are indigenous (native to Britain), those being the red deer and roe deer.
It may surprise you that deer are a keystone species - serving a crucial role in their ecosystems. Through their grazing and trampling, they aid the process of forest succession and nutrient cycles, whilst managing producer populations and dispersing seeds. Across the world they serve as prey for apex predators. Then why are they causing such a problem in the UK?
When there are large populations of deer, such as in Britain, they overgraze. This overgrazing reduces the diversity of plants and destroys forests. Deer strip leaves, shoots and barks of trees - which prevents trees’ natural regeneration - and eat away at the undergrowth. Due to this destruction of habitat, they cause a decline in other species such as birds which reduces biodiversity even further.
So what are our options to tackling this deer discord? Conservationists have highlighted two possible solutions: culling and fencing. Culling is the act of reducing a population size by removal (i.e hunting). Whilst fencing is the implementation of deer fences to manage the movement of wild deer and reduce their impact. Both of these solutions have pros and cons.
Culling is controversial with many ethical issues rising from the proposition to kill large numbers of deer. While deer fences can cause conflicts with the public’s right of responsible access under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, which establishes the public’s access rights to most land.
Many charities and organisations have shared their views on how we should go about tackling deer overpopulation. The Deer Initiative accepts that culling may be necessary in order to keep the deer population under control. Whilst the British Deer Society opposes a widespread cull but agrees that certain areas may require culling. On the other hand, the Wildlife Trusts state that culling should be a last resort but agree there is a need for management - they support fencing instead.
What do you think? How should conservationists go about sorting this deer problem?
READ MORE LIKE THIS...
READ MORE BY...