AR-News: (Scot) 539 deer killed. Some pregnant.

[Ronda Roaring]

Wednesday March 31, 03:00 AM 

Commission denies deer cull will cost stalkers' jobs 
GAMEKEEPERS who claim that a deer cull could harm their livelihood have been told the action should create more jobs, not fewer. 
More than 100 keepers from all over Scotland staged a major demonstration on the Glenfeshie Estate in Speyside on Monday evening in protest at a cull of red deer. 
The Deer Commission for Scotland carried out an emergency cull of 79 animals on the estate last month to help protect the regeneration of native Caledonian pine trees. 
Since then it has helped the estate owner to cull another 460 to reduce a population that was bigger than expected. 
The keepers claim the cull is much larger, and have complained that it is being done out of season and involves the shooting of heavily pregnant hinds. 
They also say that the commission has not followed best practice during the cull. 
Yesterday, the commission hit back at the claims, saying the estate had acted responsibly and within the law. It said similar action by keepers could prevent other estates taking action to control deer numbers. 
Nick Reiter, the commission's director, said Glenfeshie and neighbouring estates had been involved in a voluntary agreement for nearly four years to cut the local deer population to about 1,200 but was about 50 per cent over the target. 
"This is an estate that is taking its responsibility seriously. It had only achieved half the cull target by the end of January and catching up needed to be done as quickly as possible. The work now being done is being paid for by the estate." 
In an emotional statement, gamekeepers had described the cull as a "massacre" which resembled the horrors faced by farmers during the foot-and-mouth crisis. 
However, Mr Reiter said: "This is not some rampant massacre of deer, but a controlled cull with definite and rational targets behind it." 
He said it was preferable to kill hinds while they were pregnant rather than after they had given birth, as a calf left alone could starve to death. 
He also dismissed claims that the cull could lead to job losses. "The argument is not rational. If an estate is taking its responsibility seriously, it should be employing more stalkers not fewer, preferably in season. 
"What is putting jobs at risk is the refusal of some people to accept that life is changing, that the responsibilities of estates are greater than they used to be. You cannot just say we want to be a sporting estate, therefore the more deer the merrier; that's no longer tenable. 
"There is a major opportunity for the stalking profession to increase the number of stalkers." 
Mr Reiter said demonstrations like the one at Glenfeshie could harm the overall work to manage deer numbers. He said: "If the estates are going to get that kind of reception it might scare off others and that, to my mind, is what is going to put the whole issue into crisis. 
"I hope it won't put off other estates. They not only have the law on their side, but also common sense and the interest of animal welfare and the long-term interests of the industry as a whole are on their side as well." 
George Macdonald, a Scottish Gamekeepers' Association committee member, said: "In the short term, during a cull like that, there are additional folk employed, but in the longer term there will be a demise of employment. The deer population will be reduced so there will not be the same requirement. 
"If they keep taking down fences they will need more people to take the deer out of the woodlands. But generally the employment situation will come down. It has come down over the last 20 years and it will be reduced further." 
He added: "The emergency cull cost an estimated £60,000. That cull could happen again next year and for the next 20 years, but deer fences would cost about £140,000 and they would last for about 25 years." 
Mr Macdonald dismissed as "nonsense" the commission's claim that it is preferable to cull hinds before rather than after they give birth. He said gamekeepers were taught to shoot calves first so they were not left orphaned. 
He added: "The seasons are there so that they should be finished culling the deer before the hinds are too heavily pregnant. 
"Pregnant hinds are shot, but at the time foetuses are very small." 
By: JOHN ROSS -- 31-Mar-04 



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