Landowner threatens to sue over deer slaughter

A FURIOUS Scottish landowner is considering suing the Forestry Commission (FC) for six-figure compensation after marksmen shot hundreds of red deer when they strayed off his land.

Former Etonian George Lopes, whose son Harry is married to the Duchess of Cornwall's daughter Laura, lost 125 stags on his Sutherland estate, along with 75 red deer hinds and calves.

During the big freeze earlier this year the deer herd strayed on to FC Scotland land near his Rhifail Estate in Strathnaver in search of food and shelter.

He believes the slaughter, which took place in a nearby wood owned by FC Scotland earlier this year, will cost him about 100,000 over the next five years in lost revenue from hiring out his shooting lodge, selling the venison and income from shoots.

"This winter, when the snow and ice froze the ground like concrete, some 200 of our small herd of deer followed the snow-ploughed road for about two miles and walked over the Forestry Commission's frozen cattle grids into its large conifer plantation," he said.

"Without bothering to contact local professional stalkers, these beasts were slaughtered over about a week.

"The scene in deep snow is too awful to imagine, with silencers and large magazines being used. It has left us with only 60 stags."

He said he usually allows about 25 stags to be shot on his land each year, but this year they may not kill any because now numbers are so low.

This means he would lose out on income, but would still need to pay the staff wages and cover upkeep costs.

Lopes acknowledged that FCS was within its rights to shoot the animals as it has an obligation to protect its trees.

But these were extreme circumstances and the question is whether the deer were doing any damage at the time.

"My feeling is there's very little doubt that they weren't because the saplings were covered by the snow."

Robert Balfour, chairman of the Association of Deer Management Groups, said he thought the commission had been "heavy handed".

"If the deer is able to walk and eat then you shouldn't stick a bullet in it."

A spokesperson for FCS defended the decision. "We found several dead deer and many others were suffering from malnutrition.

"One stag was found to weigh less than half what it could for that time of the year - and this is typical of what we were finding.

"Many of the deer we had to cull on that occasion would inevitably have become part of this increased mortality."

He added that the condition of the animals, as well as the forest cover and size, made driving the deer to the open hill a practical impossibility and culling was the only humane solution.