I watched BBC Autumnwatch’s report on the annual deer cull last night. Liz Bonin gave an excellent insight into this – as they put it – “controversial” subject. The use of this word was my only gripe with the BBC’s approach.
The deer cull is only controversial to those who don’t understand it. Michaela Strachan was spot on, however, when she said “you’ve got to have an informed opinion”. When I moved to Knoydart six years ago to work as a countryside ranger I will admit I didn’t fully understand the complex matter of deer culling. This soon changed as I learned from the Knoydart Foundation’s professional stalkers why it is necessary.
When I ran guided walks in Knoydart I met a lot of meat-eating tourists who were very uncomfortable about the fact that my employers took out an annual deer cull. At least a few of them were outraged. I tried to impart on them some of the knowledge I had gained on the subject and now I’m going to try again in this blog. Bear in mind this is coming from someone who loves wildlife and has no desire to kill anything (except for houseflies and midges).
Deer fence – no deer browsing on the left, plenty on the right
Highland estates have different approaches to deer stalking. Many operate purely as sport shooting estates where paying “guests” dressed in tweeds pay handsome sums to bag a majestic stag. This is not the kind of deer stalking I’m talking about. The Glen Feshie estate featured on BBC Autumnwatch has a similar approach to that of Knoydart Foundation: reduce deer numbers to reduce browsing pressure on moorland and woodland. It’s a conservation ethic, not a “sporting” one. The key point here is that humans have upset the ecological balance by eradicating top predators from the food chain, namely the wolf and the lynx.
The result? A population explosion in red deer – heavy browsing of moorland plants and tree seedlings which leads to degenerating habitats. This is most noticable in the lack of forest cover and the lack of an understorey layer in existing woodland leaving the mature trees as the last men standing. The knock on effect is a loss in biodiversity – less wildlife. The Autumnwatch programme highlighted some of the species that rely on a healthy woodland ecosystem: capercaillie, crested tit and red squirrels. We have none of these native species in Knoydart, largely due to heavy browsing by deer. And I haven’t even mentioned how the deer themselves suffer through over-population: they are more prone to disease and suffer greatly in harsh winters due to the lack of shelter caused by their own over-browsing of the woodland ecosystem.
So, while I don’t like to see deer being shot, it has to be done if we want to correct the subtle balance of nature that we have upset. In my eyes, the deer stalker is playing the part of the wolf. And just as the wolf would have eaten the meat, so too do we. The venison is sold to a game dealer and some of it is sold locally within Knoydart. As a carnivore myself I feel much more comfortable eating the meat of a wild animal that has lived a free life on the hills than I am eating a mass-produced piece of chicken or pig that has been intensively farmed. I made this point to the meat eaters on my guided walks who felt uncomfortable about deer stalking. Invariably they went away with a different opinion about the deer cull – an informed opinion.
