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MP's anger at 1,200 deer shot in park since 2002
Nicholas Cecil, Political Correspondent10.03.08
Nearly 1,200 deer have been culled in Richmond Park in the past six years, figures show.
The revelation has prompted calls for the Royal Parks Agency not to shoot so many of their red and fallow deer as part of the management of the herd and instead relocate the animals.
The number of deer shot has risen from 168 in 2002 to at least 237 in the current cull, which ends on Thursday.
Those which are shot include young animals, elderly beasts and those with imperfections which could lead to birth defects in future generations.
Today, Richmond Park Liberal Democrat MP Susan Kramer said she was shocked by how many deer were being killed. She said: "In my mind I have always thought it was a fairly limited number of elderly deer.
"It would be nice if people could see if there was an alternative, where the deer could be removed or relocated.
"We would all be much more relieved if there was a way of managing this without requiring a major cull."
Sian Berry, the Green candidate for London Mayor, backed the cull but was concerned that carrying it out at night may not be the most humane way to thin out the herd. She said: "It may be done to spare the public the spectacle but it may not be the best way to ensure you target the correct animals and that it is the least cruel and clean way."
The Royal Parks Agency said the aim of the deer culling in Richmond Park was to keep the population at about 650 for "optimum deer welfare". Currently, there are 300 red and 350 fallow deer.
A spokeswoman said: "The current stocking densities have been determined by scientific study and on the advice of experts. If we did not limit the size of the herd then there would not be enough food available for the deer.
"If populations were not controlled then there would be welfare issues with the herd such as low body fat, malnutrition and high incidence of death from exposure to cold in winter."
Rejecting the idea of closing the park for a daytime cull, she added: "The cull is carried out in a humane way by highly-skilled staff with many years of experience."
The spokeswoman said the deer could not be relocated into the wild and tranquilising and moving them would be "stressful" for the animals.
The park's red and fallow population peaked in 1985 at about 1,000 head of deer. A further, 366 deer have been killed in Bushy Park, near Hampton Court, since 2002.
Deer have been kept in London's royal parks since medieval times when they were hunted.
Reader views (18)
The deer are culled to ensure that their numbers do not get so high as to cause long-term stress through lack of food. Richmond Park is a Site of Special Scientific Interest(SSSI)and bringing in extra nutrition for the deer would cause problems for the other animal and plant species in the park, as it would raise the nutrient levels in the soil(they are already elevated due to the large numbers of dogs brought into the park). As other people have said here, after the extermination by man of their natural predators (wolves), deer numbers across the UK have exploded, causing significant ecological problems, particularly in woodland habitats, so relocation is just moving the problem onto somewhere out of sight. The deer are killed quickly and efficiently, and I'm told the meat is sold, so is not wasted.
People really do need to get back in touch with reality and see the bigger picture.
- C, London
I am fed up of the way people think of animals as food and objects to use as they want. What we need is a complete change in attitudes to animals. The deer and all other animals should be recognised as sentient beings with rights, thank you Susan Kramer for speaking up for these animals. Sadly it is the tip of the iceberg when you think how many are murdered daily for food, but compassion has to start somewhere. Let's find a humane alternative to this cull, it would be a good start.
- I M Disgusted, Hampton
I can't believe some of the comments people have made. Aren't we supposed to be a nation of animal lovers? How is it that you can take your children to the parks and look at the deer and say how beautiful they are, while at the same time thinking they should be got rid of? Isn't that shameful?
- I M Ashamed, W. Molesey
This is a woman who knows what the big issues for her constituents are - the number of deer culled in Richmond Park and having Kingston Station re-zoned from Zone 6 to Zone 4 (along with her colleague Ed (throw me out of the commons) Davey!). Forget the fact that we haven't got a decent non-selective school in North Kingston. That's trivial compared to 1200 deer being culled in SIX years.
Roll on the next election so that we can get rid of this woman!
- Mark, Kingston, UK
"The cull is carried out in a humane way by highly-skilled staff with many years of experience."
Does this mean that the Deer are not really dead then?
- Mike Melbourne, Bedford, England
This Kramer woman is too stupid to be an MP. What alternative has her feeble brain come up with? Relocation to an unspecified place! What would happen when this place, wherever it is, is unable to sustain the population.
It would not be a bad idea to carry out something similar at Westminster!
- Simon, Kingston, UK
The ignorance of Londoners is astonishing. All the contributions below saying it would be nice if Bambi was 'relocated'. Clearly Londoners (bless their cotton socks), have no perception of how many deer there are in the countryside.
Apart from the fact that they make a serious mess of your car when you hit one (but not on Streatham High St), one wonders how Londoners think that deer die in the wild? It certainly isn't from a quick dispatch from a bullet. Its usually a long lingering death from disease as there are no natural predators.
Perhaps Londoners should set up sanctuary for a elderly retired deer to assuage their metropolitan fluffiness anxiety about the unfairness of nature.
- Roger, Guildford,UK
That's just disgusting. Instead of relocating the poor animals they massacre them? As if there's enough wild life in the UK as it is...
Somebody better divert some of the money MPs are directing to their family members in order to prevent this shameful thing.
- Allan, London
I wonder if they would find being relocated more stressful then being culled?
Somehow I doubt it.
- Jb, London, UK
What a stupid woman. She clearly knows nothing about the world outside a supermarket. The deer are no different to sheep. It would be unthinkable to let sheep breed unhindered on a farm or on open land so why deer? Bambi-morphism gone mad. There is an explosion of deer in the UK and there is a limited ability of the land to carry the deer numbers. They cause tremendous damage to trees once their antlers are in velvet and they fray the bark from young trees killing them. I bet this ill informed career politician didn't know this either? Treeless Richmond Park? I don't think so.
- James, New Malden, Surrey
I'd just like to know why the price of venison at my local butchers isn't lower? We're only about a mile from the park. Might help offset the spiralling cost of everything else! "Let them eat cake......"
- Mark Curtis, London
Hm! So much concern, worry & despair for animals and yet we haven't yet seen such or any concerns towards the killings of youths recently. If we were to focus our attention towards humanity i.e. our way of life, perhaps the world would be a better place and we can at least start here in the UK to show examples.
Rather the news is filled with politicians on how they can extort money (oops! sorry I meant save the planet). Makes you wonder what we are all about.
- Sola, Basildon, Essex.
I hope they offset the costs of the culling by selling the venison to restaurants.
- Curbishly, London
"The spokeswoman said the deer could not be relocated into the wild and tranquillising and moving them would be "stressful" for the animals."
Nowhere near as stressful as being shot I'd have to think!
- Joe Brinkster, Worcester Park , Surrey
Susan Kramer isn't doing much for the reputation of 'clear thinking' LibDems. Unless she wants to release bears or wolves (the natural predators of red and fallow deer) into Richmond Park there is no alternative to a large annual cull, particularly of hinds of breeding age. Despite living within the M25, these are largely wild animals. Darting deer to relocate or give long-acting contraceptives has been tried with other park deer in the UK and it invariably causes a high degree of stress and an unacceptable mortality rate. Day-time culling would indeed be better for animal welfare, but given the use of high-powered rifles this would involve shutting the park to the public for perhaps 20-30 days a year at a guess, which just isn't going to happen.
- Andrew, London
And just where would she 'relocate' them to? Deer have no natural predators (apart from cars), and their numbers have exploded. The only 'natural' way to control them would be to re-introduce wolves.
Mind you, releasing a few wolves in Richmond Park might be an interesting exercise, especially when MPs are taking their grandchildren for a walk.
It just shows how out of touch with reality some MPs are. They seem to live in a fluffy Bambi sort of universe.
- Roger, Guildford
Susan Kramer's suggestion that "it would be nice if people could see if there was an alternative, where the deer could be removed or relocated," is naive and misguided, and sadly typical of those who childishly equate these majestic wild animals with household pets.
Moving or relocating deer is dangerous and stressful for the animals, and herds need to be managed or the weakest suffer unnecessarily.
- Mark, London
If local butchers get to sell us the meat, I'm all in favour. Much better than just disposing of the carcases.
- G, London
