Claims made that Ireland’s wild deer population is out control and spreading TB to cattle have been rejected by the Wild Deer Association of Ireland.
The claims were made by Wicklow IFA chairman Tom Shortt while condemning the discovery of an alleged illegal dump containing dozens of decomposed deer carcasses in Co Wicklow, Mr Shortt went on to claim the national deer population is spiralling out of control and jeopardising the health of cattle.
A spokesperson for the Wild Deer Association of Ireland said: “we welcome the IFA’s condemnation of this discovery; as a responsible deer management organisation we were the first organisation to highlight and condemn this incident, which has the potential to spread disease. Mr Shortt’s claim, that the discovery is a reflection of normal deer management practices, is merely mischief and has no connection with traditional deer management practices where venison is a highly sought after meat by hunters”.
The spokesperson said: “There is currently no data on the population of wild deer in Ireland, as a census has never been undertaken. However, there are certain indicators that support claims by those who manage our wild deer of a significant decline in deer numbers nationally. Claims of isolated hotspots of overpopulation have also been made but in the absence of a census or criteria as to what is a hotspot this is somewhat subjective.”
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