Skip to main content
BBC NEWS / SOMERSET
Graphics VersionBBC Sport Home
News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia | UK | Business | Health | Science & Environment | Technology | Entertainment | Also in the news | Have Your Say |
UK Contents:  England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales | UK Politics | Education | Magazine

Friday, 30 November 2007, 10:45 GMT

Deer cull on Quantocks under way

Landowners on the Quantock hills in Somerset have been invited to a one-day mass shoot of deer.

The cull has been organised by the Deer Management and Conservation Group that says it is necessary to protect crops and land being ravaged by the deer.

The target number of the cull is 300 deer across the season.

However the League Against Cruel Sports has condemned the cull claiming it is "just an excuse for those who used to be involved in hunting to shoot deer".

Dr Jochen Langbein, a wildlife research biologist who acts as independent secretary to the Deer Management Group, said the cull had been arranged after annual counts of the deer population showed a marked rise from 555 in 1993 to 745 in 2002 and 830 in the past three counts.

Hinds targeted

"Aside from the rise in overall numbers, the proportion of adult males in the population has fallen, thus raising also the rate of population growth," said Dr Langbein.

"Culling of deer on the Quantocks is nothing new - in the absence of any significant natural mortality, around 200 to 250 or more red deer will have been culled in most recent years," he added.

In an article on the Quantock Community website Dr Langbein said: "Culls taken over recent years have clearly been inadequate to prevent the observed increasing trend in deer numbers and distribution; in part because the total cull has been too low, but mostly because the proportion of adult females included in the culls needs to be greater if the trend is to be reversed."

A report by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation in 2006 estimated that the annual cull of deer taken by its members in the UK approached 250,000, including more than 155,000 culled within England.

In addition, nearly 60,000 deer are killed as a result of collisions with vehicles every year.

The day will focus on culling hinds rather than stags and is planned as an addition to other culling activity throughout the season.



E-mail this to a friend

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
The Quantock Online Community
Defra: Deer Management Groups
League Against Cruel Sports
Deer Collisions
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites



SEARCH BBC NEWS: 

News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia | UK | Business | Health | Science & Environment | Technology | Entertainment | Also in the news | Have Your Say |
UK Contents:  England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales | UK Politics | Education | Magazine

NewsWatch | Notes | Contact us | About BBC News | Profiles | History

^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©