Thousands of deer starve to death as cold snap goes on

Published on Friday 5 February 2010 22:06

THOUSANDS of deer are feared to be starving to death on Scotland's hills because of the harsh winter.

The Deer Commission for Scotland says it expects "substantial" deaths by the spring, and estate owners are predicting their worst losses in more than a decade.

Some, like the Queen's Balmoral estate, stopped shooting hinds well before the season ends on 15 February over welfare concerns.

Others have culled the weakest animals struggling for survival, while thousands are simply being left to starve to death.

Stags are said to be particularly struggling because since the rutting season in October they have lost considerable body weight.

The losses are likely to hit Scotland's lucrative stalking industry, which is estimated to be worth more than 105 million to the economy. The number of red deer alone has almost trebled to 400,000 since the mid-1960s, leading to more competition for food. There are also more than 400,000 roe deer and 40,000 sika deer.

Robbie Kernahan, director of the Deer Commission for Scotland, said: "The commission is very concerned about the current situation, especially if we get a wet spring, which will compound the problem. This winter has been exceptional and access to forage has been a major problem. We are expecting substantial losses.

"It is important that estates continue to cull the weakest animals – but getting to them has been a problem. Shooting virtually stopped in January. There are concerns that estates will not be able to meet cull targets and that the stalking economy will be badly affected too."

Donald Fraser, the commission's deer officer for the North-east, said it was the worst conditions for deer for at least a decade. "Unless there is a thaw soon there will be a significant number of natural mortalities," he said.

"There could be thousands. The estates are quite worried. We have already been contacted by some.

"The full effects will not be felt until the spring. A lot of the deaths will be later, as many animals will struggle to get through this period but not have the energy and condition to survive past that."

Mr Fraser said red and roe deer were particularly at risk as they could not reach their food of grass and heather, buried under several feet of snow and ice.

He added that it was difficult to estimate the number of deer that had died already, because gamekeepers had been unable to reach herds in the bad weather without risking their own lives.

"In localised areas there could be a particularly high rate of losses," said Mr Fraser.

"But access to many areas is difficult because of the snow. It is not just the effect of deer not being able to reach their food, but wind chill is also a factor on them. The hinds will be ready to calve in June and July, but the main concern is over the stags. They have lost a lot of body weight after the rutting.

"Some estates are culling deer to prevent them suffering – and doing it as part of their management plan."

Richard Gledson, factor at the 50,000-acre Balmoral Estate, said: "I am sure there would have been fatalities and there will be many more. We have some concerns about the deer. There has been a lot of snow cover for a long time and they are struggling. It has just been impossible to reach a lot of places on the estate."