from Sunday Herald, 21 March 2010
Tens of thousands of deer could be facing death by starvation this spring, leaving gruesome piles of dead animals to be discovered in remote glens by walkers, warn deer experts.
The British Deer Society, a charity which promotes deer welfare and management, is predicting a “catastrophe” because Scotland’s long, snowy winter has deprived deer of vital food.
The society has also attacked the Scottish government’s deer agency for failing to clarify the law on “mercy killings” outside the hunting season. This could put stalkers who shoot starving deer to end their suffering at risk of prosecution.
Concern over the plight of Scotland’s one million deer is escalating. Unable to access food for months because of the deep snow cover, they may now be weakened, thin and vulnerable to the cold and wet.
“The ramblers are about to start arriving and they will find heaps of dead deer,” predicted John Bruce, a Scottish spokesman for the British Deer Society. “The deer will come down from the hills, find a quiet glen and then just lie down and expire.”
He pointed out that rain would penetrate deer coats and cool them down enough to finish them off. “If we have rain, we will have a catastrophe,” he told the Sunday Herald.
Bruce warned that it could be as bad as the last major “die-off” when tens of thousands of deer were killed by the harsh winter of 1962-63. “It’s going to get messy, and I think that’s not yet been understood,” he said.
The British Deer Society has become so worried about the impact of the winter that it has issued its own guidance to stalkers on the law governing the “humane dispatch” of starving deer. And it has criticised the government’s Deer Commission for Scotland for failing to clarify the issue.
It was “remiss” of the commission not to issue advice on when it would be legal to shoot suffering deer outside the hunting season, Bruce argued. It suggested that the commissioners “weren’t taking their responsibility seriously”, he alleged.
The society, which has 6,500 members, issued its guidance against the advice of the Deer Commission, Bruce revealed. “I don’t think the deer commissioners have exactly covered themselves in glory by failing to offer advice on this.”
The 1996 Deer (Scotland) Act says that it is legal to kill “an injured or diseased deer” outside the hunting season, which for male red deer runs from 1 July to 20 October. But it is not clear to what extent this includes animals that are dying of starvation.
The British Deer Society’s new advice says that if deer are in “terminal decline” they may be humanely and legally killed. Terminal decline is defined, amongst other things, as collapsed, immobile, emaciated and isolated.
Animal welfare groups argue that, instead of shooting deer, landowners should be feeding them to help them survive. Anyone finding suffering deer should contact their nearest wildlife rescue organisation, urged John Robins from the Animal Concern Advice Line.
“There is no doubt that nature has taken a toll on all wildlife this winter,” he added. “It will perhaps be some months before we really know what populations of deer and other animals and birds have survived. The Scottish government should stop all culling and sport shooting until we know the full picture.”
According to the Deer Commission for Scotland, this winter’s impact will be greater in some areas than others. “Stalkers have and will continue to shoot deer which are on the verge of death,” said the commission’s Alastair MacGugan.
But he accepted that the legislation and guidance could be improved. “The impact of the severe weather on some deer populations has highlighted a range of interpretations on what constitutes an injured or diseased animal,” MacGugan said.
“In order to generate a common understanding among deer interests, the commission is bringing together a group of vets and stalkers to discuss whether the industry guidance provided on welfare could be further refined.”
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