OUT OF season culling of deer on Scotland's hills has created new tension between conservation authorities and gamekeepers.

On one hand NatureScot has insisted that there are far too many deer, and their grazing activity must urgently be curtailed if Scotland's efforts to increase its forestry cover are to succeed ­– on the other hand, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, which contributed to the current codes for humane deer control, insists that seasonal limits on culling are there for the welfare of calves too young to be left motherless.

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However, underlying the row are deeply political issues of landownership and land use, with NatureScot perceived to be favouring the interests of largely publicly-owned forestry by granting the out-of-season cull licence, over the commercial concerns of privately owned deerstalking businesses, which would much rather the deer population be available for its customers to shoot.

Forestry and Land Scotland has made much of the species' 'increasing levels of negative impact' on Scotland’s national forests. With up to 150 million young trees in the ground and vulnerable to damage, the cost of deer grazing to the forestry sector is now put at several million pounds annually.

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FLS’ head of wildlife management, Ian Fergusson, said: “The total number of all four deer species across Scotland is now estimated to be around one million and our surveys show deer population levels ranging from four deer per km2 to as high as 64 deer per km2 in some areas. A widely accepted sustainable population balance for woodlands and biodiversity protection is between two and seven deer per km2.

“The current high levels of deer numbers pose a particular threat to establishing young trees and areas of forest regeneration which are a vital part of Scotland’s response to the climate emergency," said Mr Fergusson. "It can also be ruinous to biodiversity projects and also poses a threat to the overall health of the herd, which in winter could struggle to find enough food and may result in many animals suffering a slow death from starvation.

“As responsible land managers of a significant area of Scotland’s forests and land, we have to act and achieving the necessary balance within the deer population is something that can only realistically be attained through culling.”

However, the SGA insisted that this nationwide out-of-season cull, which last year saw 1300 deer killed, was unjustified, and would result in dependant calves starving. Such a licence should, said the gamekeepers, be an action of 'last resort', not an annual feature of land management.

After scrutinising FLS data on the age profile of Scotland’s forests, the SGA claimed only a small fraction would be susceptible to damage by females in September.

SGA chairman Alex |Hogg said: “We are proud of our five years of work in developing best practice in Scotland. These guidelines need to evolve and we appreciate that. But our members are questioning why our name should be on future codes when the direction of travel, within public bodies, appears to be to kill deer, day or night, in-season or not.

“The Government-commissioned Deer Working Group report, due to be implemented, will rid Scotland of protections which professionals fought hard for, through closed seasons, to give an iconic species respite to rear their young without welfare detriment," he noted. “If bureaucrats can scrap seasons and public departments can get sign-off on carte blanche authorisations, why bother having a code for humane deer management at all?"