Deer Management

Deer share their environment with a great many other creatures and with man. Man uses the countryside to produce food crops, for grazing, to grow trees and for a wide range of leisure activities. Man also builds roads through the countryside, providing routes between towns and cities. Man's requirements take precedence over those of other creatures and truly 'wild habitats' no longer exist in Britain. Animals have learned to adapt to the areas left to them and to utilise areas such as parks and gardens as the natural countryside dwindles. The urban fox is well known, having featured in many television programmes, but what is less well known is that the Muntjac, our smallest deer, is almost as common in some urban areas.

In order to ensure the welfare of deer, protecting them from starvation due to overgrazing, and from road traffic accidents, it is important that they are managed. It is equally important to protect other creatures sharing their habitat from the results of overgrazing, as well as to prevent the deer from causing unacceptable damage to crops and trees. Usually the management of deer means that they have to be 'culled' and it is important that the cull be carried out efficiently and humanely, by people who understand exactly what they are doing. A series of certificated courses are provided by the British Deer Society for those concerned and educational material showing why management is important to the welfare and conservation of deer in the absence of a natural predator.

The following deer species live in the 'wild' in Britain. Two species are indigenous (native), Red and Roe deer. Fallow were introduced by the Phoenicians or the Romans, although a species known as the 'Clacton Fallow' was present during the Ice Age. Sika, Muntjac and Chinese Water deer were all introduced around the turn of the 19th to 20th century, and it is escapees from parks that now populate the British countryside.

Red and fallow deer are the most popular species to be kept in parks and are also farmed. Sika are also often seen in parks, though not in such high numbers as Red and Fallow. Muntjac and Chinese Water deer are more secretive and difficult to spot in a park situation, therefore are less popular as park animals. Roe bucks are usually considered too dangerous to be kept in parks, therefore this species is rarely seen in captivity unless in a secure enclosure.

Road traffic accidents (RTA's) involving deer are common where deer are present in significant numbers, particularly where their habitat is crossed by major roads. A 2007 survey estimated that there were as many as 74,000 accidents involving deer across the country annually. European legislation now requires ecological surveys where new roads, motorways or bypasses are planned. Where deer are present, a more specialised survey is necessary to establish the level of risk to the motorist from deer on the highway.