Deer cull to help bitterns apparently site improvement from October. Reduce red deer numbers by coordinated cull. Rspb landowner/occupier. This you can find through a search which opens up a PDF file. Their to help nature not destroy it. Evil. Might aswell line the deer up on the M6.
£20,000 could be spent elsewhere. This is what your membership money is paying for. Disgrace.
Not evil or disgraceful at all, deer have no natural predators in the UK, so it is necessary for Man to control numbers or the herd will get inbred or diseased. They will also destroy habitat and cause accidents as they try to spread out into more populated areas. If the RSPB did not control numbers they would be regarded as irresponsible landowners. It isn't the first time this sort of thing has been necessary at large reserves and it won't be the last
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Deers natural predator is humans same as most animals on our planet.
Whistling joe are you any of the following. 1 landowner 2 farmer 3 part of a hunting group. It is this reply to the last post by yourself that got me wondering!!
Well, my house has a garden, we grow a few veg in it and I shoot birds and animals with a camera, but I'm afraid that's the closest I get :-)
Hello Craig, As much as I hate the idea of animals being culled I understand the reasons and need for keeping the numbers of Deer down to reasonable levels as their population has increased significantly over the years. They can destroy large areas of woodland and crops if herds are left to increase at their current rate without any controls in place. Our local park has 400+ Red and Fallow deer and culls are carried out on occasion to keep the herd down to a sustainable level (for the 1000 acres they roam) or the parkland would be destroyed if left uncontrolled. Culling is also done to protect the integrity of the herd leaving the strongest Stags to carry on producing the next generations. With the damage that deer can do to woodland/vegetation, this can have a heavy impact on birdlife too destroying some of their natural habitats; its been reported that migrant birds like Blackcaps, and Nightingales have suffered as a consequence. Areas of ancient woodland are particularly at risk if deer herds are left to increase without sensible management.
post edit: I should add that I can't comment about Leighton Moss's decision as I don't know their herd size and would only agree with culling if they had large numbers that were impacting on the surrounding vegetation.
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Regards, Hazel
Right. Just the way you responded to the deer cull was the same that you would expect from someone who only lives around a concrete enviroment. If you read the PDF they are culling one animal to provide a better enviroment for another. Messing with the Eco system. Let the Eco system sort itself out. I suppose their nothing wrong with badger culling?, and the recent influx of suits and chavs who want a cull on foxes!!
You have lumped together three entirely different situations with different reasons (or not) for controlling the population of a species. It is necessary to be clear headed and analytical rather than emotional when considering such situations. Many nature reserves for example are not natural at all, they are man made havens for wildlife and require constant management of all sorts to keep them that way. Sometimes this requires heavy machinery to re-sculpt scrapes for example (see Minsmere). Other times it requires control of species where numbers are getting out of hand at the expense of others.
No-one of a reasonable disposition enjoys such deer culling, but if it is necessary - and all who took part in a similar conversation last year on deer culls know a GREAT deal of careful discussion takes place inside the RSPB before such decisions are made - then a responsible landowner must take the necessary action.
I'd be interested in the pdf you refer to though, please link.
Improvement programme for England's nature 2000 sites (Ipens) panning for the future site improvement leighton moss.