Blood money deal to save Bambi

Aberdeen City Council was condemned by animal welfare groups after councillors voted to press ahead with controversial plans to shoot roe deer on a prominent hill overlooking the city.

The cull would be to protect thousands of trees being planted in the area as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

But the council has offered to stop the cull, which already has the support of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), provided 225,000 can be raised from external sources to pay for a scheme to protect the saplings with small enclosures.

John Robins, the campaigns consultant for welfare charity Animal Concern, said: "They are looking for blood money. But I'm not Lady Macbeth and I not going to wash the blood off the councillors' hands."

He added: "It's amazing that Aberdeen City Council have now admitted that they are going to cull the deer purely for economic reasons.

"It is nothing to do with welfare and nothing to do with what is best for regenerating the forest.

"They are not going to get the money off us. But if they go ahead with the cull there are going to be major protests and people will put themselves between the guns and the deer."

Members of the council's housing and environment committee voted to grant a stay of execution until 10 May to allow the 225,000 to be raised after being told that roe deer were posing a threat to plans to make Tullos Hill Scotland's first "Diamond Wood", for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Aileen Malone, the committee convener, said the council could not afford the bill.

She said: "We do not have the money to spend 225,000 on deer guards, but it is very important that we plant the trees for future generations. I would like to give the people who have come forward the opportunity to raise the funds.

"It actually equates to 1 for every citizen of Aberdeen. It may be that the people of Aberdeen do want this and if so they might contribute to the costs."

Ian Talboys, the council's countryside officer, told the committee: "In order to establish woodland at Tullos Hill, it will be necessary to develop a deer management plan.

"Roe deer are present on the site in numbers that can do serious damage to the woodland.Forestry Commission Scotland and SNH have advised that deer control would be required during the establishment of any new tree planting work and would be a condition of any grant payments."

James Scott, the North-east deer management officer for SNH, said in a report to the committee: "Even if deer fencing were a possibility, it would be entirely normal that SNH would request a compensatory cull of deer to account for the loss of range. It would appear that lethal control is the only option and it is certainly the option that we would recommend to you."

He added that the possibility of relocating the deer after tranquilising them with darts had been explored and rejected as a possible option.