Landowners agree to Lynx re-introduction

[muldonach]

I was not suggesting that stalking took place within Lochinver, but merely that the presence of the deer suggested overpopulation, and that a sensible cull in Assynt should not have any deleterious affect on stalking. I spend a week annually fishing the Assynt Crofter's estate, and the problem of ticks has significantly increased, possibly associated with the deer.

[i][i]If these officials have their way, the deer population on the Assynt peninsula will be reduced to about 2 deer per square km. This is the density required to achieve what they have stated they wish to achieve. That will mean an annual cull of 25 stags for the whole Assynt peninsula area, if/when the deer population is reduced to the level SNH are looking to reach. To give some context, last year, 170 stags were shot on the Assynt peninsula (62 by the Assynt Crofters, which gave us a revenue of almost £9000 after expenses). This has been presented to the Board of SNH as being ‘a relatively minor sustained reduction in browsing pressure’. What may appear ‘relatively minor’ to a salaried, pensioned government official sitting behind a desk in Inverness would be economically devastating for Assynt.[/i][/i]

Fair enough - not sure that you will get too warm a reception from the locals if you start advocating much in the way of population reducton though. Also while you may have a point re ticks please bear in mind that the local woodlands are in good health and successfully regenerating.

Perhaps also worth pointing out that the revenue figures quoted above condiderably understate the actual economic effect of the stalking - the area as a whole will benefit by about £6-700 per stag.

[colin]

Fair enough - not sure that you will get too warm a reception from the locals if you start advocating much in the way of population reducton though. Also while you may have a point re ticks please bear in mind that the local woodlands are in good health and successfully regenerating.

But are you taking into account that a reduced deer population will result in a higher proportion of stags and probably larger stags too?

[muldonach]

Fair enough - not sure that you will get too warm a reception from the locals if you start advocating much in the way of population reducton though. Also while you may have a point re ticks please bear in mind that the local woodlands are in good health and successfully regenerating.

But are you taking into account that a reduced deer population will result in a higher proportion of stags and probably larger stags too?

Don't see why you think that a lower population will have a higher proportion of stags, larger stags - maybe but the rifles don't pay per Kg.

The point is that the locals don't seem to agree that any reduction in population is appropriate

[colin]

Don't see why you think that a lower population will have a higher proportion of stags, larger stags

because that was one of the outcomes of a study on deer populations carried out on Rum a few decades ago.

[colin]

On the second post deer are indeed wild animals which by law belong to no one, and no one is responsible for them directly. The Scottish Government however has taken powers to allow enforcement of statutory culls, and can ultimately send in cull teams in the manner described with costs chargeable to the landowner concerned, it is unlikely, and in my view highly undesirable, that they would extend this to the system advocated above.

Muldanach, why do you find it undesirable that landowners be compensated for the cost of culling hinds?

[muldonach]

On the second post deer are indeed wild animals which by law belong to no one, and no one is responsible for them directly. The Scottish Government however has taken powers to allow enforcement of statutory culls, and can ultimately send in cull teams in the manner described with costs chargeable to the landowner concerned, it is unlikely, and in my view highly undesirable, that they would extend this to the system advocated above.

Muldanach, why do you find it undesirable that landowners be compensated for the cost of culling hinds?

To an extend I misinterpreted your post and had visions of a centrally organised system - which is probably what it would turn into at the end of the day.

If it is desirable to reduce populations either locally or nationally some kind of bounty scheme might serve some purpose - but the best approach (and use of public funds) might be an advertising scheme extolling the virtue of venison.

[muldonach]

Don't see why you think that a lower population will have a higher proportion of stags, larger stags

because that was one of the outcomes of a study on deer populations carried out on Rum a few decades ago.

That is not my understanding at present but perhaps you are able to link to the study or post a summary>

[colin]

That is not my understanding at present but perhaps you are able to link to the study or post a summary>

It was explained to me by the warden of Rum many years ago, I believe it's an example of Darwinian Adaptation. A red deer hind has a better chance of passing on more of her genes if she can produce a healthy male calf, but to do so requires more nutrients than a female calf, if enough calories are not available then both mother and calf will die the following winter, so hinds have adapted to making the most of a bad situation by producing a higher proportion of hinds in poorer open moorland environments .

larger stags - maybe but the rifles don't pay per Kg.

No, nothing so gross! but subtly they do, the paying clients are all trophy hunters, they want the biggest stag with the biggest head and the biggest antler rack, but the Gillies don't want to give them that because they see the best stags as the breeding stock needed to entice future clients, but i am sure the most favored clients are rewarded. But big stags can't be produced by simply 'improving' the stock, in the 19th C the private owners of Rum tried that by introducing forest born red deer from Poland but the environment of Rum was too depleted to produce deer of that size in the generations which followed. I have seen red deer in Poland and by comparison Scottish deer are malnourished dwarfs. Moorland does not provide much sustenance for red deer . Forest deer are bigger which is what the clients want. Unfortunately it takes 100 years to produce a diverse forest from open moorland.
I think there is a case for public money being used to cull deer hinds because the benefits to private landowners , tourists, and all the associated businesses will not accrue to this generation but to their grandchildren and those who follow them.