Scotland's Red Deer explosion

Warmer winters, feeding by humans and a lack of natural predators have helped their numbers swell. At the last count, there were estimated to be 400,000 in Scotland - three times the figure of more than 40 years ago.

The increase has been welcomed by the tourist industry and shooting parties. But it is also proving a hazard, and not only to the growing number of drivers involved in collisions with deer. Conservation groups say there is also a threat to the countryside, and they are calling for up to 75 per cent of the deer population in parts of the country to be culled. According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), this would prevent damage to other species and to natural heritage areas.

"There are more than 100 problem sites across Scotland," Duncan Orr Ewing, the head of species and land management at the RSPB, said. "A lot is already being done, but there needs to be more investment from the Scottish Executive to combat the problem.

"In some parts of the country, we need to reduce the population by 75 per cent. This includes parts of the Cairngorms, parts of Wester Ross, Inverness-shire, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, where there are more than 25 deer per sq km."

The Deer Commission for Scotland (DCS) was set up in 1959 to deal with the excessive deer population. Since then, red deer numbers have trebled. Successive governments have failed to control their numbers and conservation groups say the DCS does not have sufficient powers or resources effectively to tackle the situation.

Erlend Barclay, from the DCS, denied that the deer population was spiralling out of control.

He said: "The number of deer in Scotland has gone steadily up and up. With more deer around, they do breed quickly, but we are doing a lot of work and the deer population is levelling out.

"There is no one solution to tackle the problem. We need to look at various measures to reduce the number of deer in Scotland, of which culling is just one."

Overgrazing by deer is preventing the regeneration of woodlands, which are important for other species. It is also harming the recovery of native plants. As the deer population has surged, the beasts have become increasingly bold, going into people's gardens and on to roadsides in search of food. They are responsible for injuring more than 70 people each year in road accidents.

The surge in numbers has been caused by a variety of factors, including milder winters which have dramatically reduced mortality rates. Other factors include landowners feeding deer in winter so that there are plenty to be shot by paying visitors. Although legal, this practice has been blamed for keeping deer numbers artificially high.

Tony Andrews, of the Scottish Countryside Alliance, said deer numbers had to be controlled, but he warned against treating them like vermin. "Red deer on the hill are an iconic feature of Scotland for the tourist and people who live in Scotland," he said.

"It is very important for our national brand image. We have one of the last great wilderness herds of large grazing mammals in Scotland. You would need to go to Africa before you would find anything like it. We really are talking about something very unusual.

"Yes, of course, there is a need to control deer, which is why there are deer management groups throughout the country. But we should not treat them like vermin."

Deer management - that includes everything from the venison industry to the wages paid to stalkers and workers erecting fencing to prevent deer wandering on to roads - is worth 105 million a year to the Scottish economy, twice what it was two decades ago. Of this, stalking is worth up to 20 million and the venison industry 10 million. Deer provide 2,700 full-time jobs, including 500 to 1,000 stalkers who are employed to kill deer.

The growing deer population has been a source of anxiety among environmental, wildlife and conservation groups in recent years.

The DCS can authorise the culling of deer out of season and at night - 18 months ago, Athol Estates was granted permission to cull 20 deer after they caused 12 road accidents over a ten-day period on the A9 near Dunkeld.

Andrew Bruce Wootton, the general manager of Athol Estates, said the cull had been praised by police for reducing the number of road accidents in the area. He said: "The problem in Scotland isn't the number of deer overall but where they are. A few deer can do a lot of harm in some places, like motorways, by grazing on or crossing the roads. In other areas, lots of deer cause no problems.

"The growing number of deer is not one problem with one answer. We need to address it using a variety of measures.

"One can't look to exterminate them like they would rats or rabbits. One needs to be measured in one's management of them. Some areas of the country have very good long-term management plans in place. Others are more at loggerheads."

The sale of Scottish venison has decreased by 50 per cent over the past decade, due to competition from other countries. But deer stalking has increased by about 10 per cent since 2001. A total of 100,000 deer are shot for human consumption in Scotland each year, of which 80 per cent is consumed in the UK. The popularity of the meat has grown steadily in recent years.

By law, nobody owns deer, but they can be "taken" by whoever owns the land on which they happen to reside. Three-quarters of Scotland's deer population - more than 300,000 animals - are on private land.

Deer were voted Scotland's most important animals in a survey earlier this year by Scottish Biodiversity. They are one of few animals that do not have a natural predator, since bears and wolves died out across Scotland.

But unless their numbers are reduced, there is a danger deer could come to be regarded more as a pest than as a majestic asset of which Scotland can be proud.

TACKLING THE PROBLEM

THE explosion in the deer population is causing up to 10,000 accidents a year on Scotland's roads, according to a report published today by the government's Deer Commission for Scotland (DCS). Road accidents involving deer are responsible for injuring more than 70 people each year and for causing the deaths of up to 10,000 deer.

The report identifies five deer accident blackspots. These are the A9 at Dunkeld, the A82 at Glencoe, the A835 between Garve and Ullapool, the A81 between Ballat crossroads and Mugdock junction and the A87/A887 between Invermoriston and Shiel Bridge. There have been further deer collisions on sections of the M9, the M90, the A90 and the A980.

The majority of road accidents occur in May and in winter.

The DCS uses a range of measures to tackle the problem. These include erecting fencing, warning signs, speed limits, reflectors and rumble strips.

The DCS's chairman, John Milne, said: "Deer-vehicle collisions can have serious implications for driver safety. Deer welfare is also compromised as the animal is often fatally injured."

The economic value of preventing the human injuries caused by deer accidents is 4.5 million a year, according to the report.