Outbreak of antler-social behaviour could cost £2m

AN INVASIVE species of deer could cost nearly £2 million a year to manage if it moves into Scotland, according to experts.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) commissioned a report on how to deal with Chinese Muntjac deer, which have been labelled “Asbo bambi” south of the Border where they roam free and have been blamed for damaging crops and causing road accidents.

The report says the animals have been expanding their range throughout England and Wales at between 8.2 per cent and 11.6 per cent per year over the past 40 years.

It adds: “It seems only a matter of time before muntjac spread into Scotland, but they could also invade after escape from wildlife collections or deliberate introduction into the wild.”

The report from Alastair Ward of the Food and Environment Research Agency in York says that faced with the threat of a muntjac invasion into Scotland, the policy options are to do nothing, to manage an established population in perpetuity or to ensure the country stays free of the animals.

He said doing nothing or managing a population are “non-reversible” options, but a decision to keep the animals out could be reversed if required.

He estimates that managing an established muntjac population would cost between £457,821 to £1.9m annually.

Eradicating an outbreak of the deer would cost between £3,683 and £60,625 per outbreak for populations of up to 200 animals.

The first muntjac were brought to the UK in 1838, and the first recorded release into the wild took place in 1901 when 11 animals were released into woods within and around Woburn Park in Bedfordshire.

Further releases are known to have taken place in the 1930s in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, and between 1947 and 1952 in Kent, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and the Suffolk/Norfolk border.

Other records ,in Cheshire, the Lake District, Northumberland, Scotland and Wales suggested that humans have played a key role in their spread.

Current information suggests muntjac are present in the border counties of England, and possibly extend into Dumfries and Galloway, while there have been isolated reports as far north as Inverness.

The report adds: “Reports from Scotland of free-roaming muntjac are rare and disparate.

“However, since there are reports of sightings around the Border between Scotland and England, and since the northern extent of the core English population is now in North Yorkshire, it would seem prudent to consider whether to prevent establishment of this invasive non- native species in Scotland and if so, how to achieve it.”

It suggests that eradicating invading populations to prevent the animal establishing in Scotland is the most cost–effective option.

Researchers asked Scottish councils for details on any zoo licences issued to keep the deer. Only Fife Council said it had done so for animals at Fife Animal Park and at the Scottish Deer Centre.

Earlier this year, the Scottish Government made an order to destroy muntjac if any escape into the wild.

Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said there is no known established population in the wild in Scotland, adding: “We would like to maintain that situation.

“By reason of their destructive habits, it is desirable to control the keeping of them and to destroy any such which may be at large.”