Gamekeepers unhappy about plan for out-of-season deer cull

GAMEKEEPERS have warned that Scotland is set to become a culling field for young deer.

Infant deer will starve to death in public forests across Scotland under plans to kill hundreds of female deer to protect trees, it has been claimed.

The shooting of hinds is illegal between mid-february and late October but the Government agency Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has been authorised to carry out an emergency cull in September, which it insists is necessary to control an expanding deer population and reduce damage to plantations.

The Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association (SGA) said the cull would orphan calves and condemn them to a lingering death by starvation, after forestry officials admitted that during a similar cull of 1,300 red deer last year it was not known if, in every case, a mother’s young were killed before her.

The SGA said the admission of a failure to “match” dead calves and hinds – made in a freedom of information release – strengthened fears that infant deer would suffer.

The association warned that shooters contracted by the Government to carry out the cull were “uncomfortable” with the policy and had witnessed calves escaping after their mothers were shot during last year’s cull.

FLS confirmed that a cull would take place in September, licensed by Naturescot. Officials claim that deer numbers across Scotland have doubled to almost a million from 500,000 in 1990.

SGA chairman Alex Hogg said: “Deer need to be managed but, in our view, FLS should tell the public the truth about the September cull.

“We believe this blanket authorisation is being used as a means to kill as many deer as possible, night and day, in an extended time frame.

“If politicians are going to legitimise this type of deer management, at taxpayers’ expense, they may find the public have something to say. Changes to deer seasons require serious thought and proper consultation.”

Last year’s cull prompted more than 5,000 to sign a petition opposing the shooting of red deer in the close season.

The SGA claimed a “significant number” of deer were shot at night, which is illegal in many European states.