The Office of Public Works have revealed they have no plans to remove the wild fallow deer in the Phoenix Park.
The statement comes after Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan called for increased culling of the deer to deal with the biodiversity risk they pose. “The wild deer herd have been an integral part of the biodiversity in the Phoenix Park for over 360 years,” an OPW spokeswoman said.
“The Office of Public Works has no plans to remove the naturalised wild fallow deer in the Phoenix Park.” Minister Ryan told RTE earlier today that deer across Ireland are a "big issue".
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He said: “We have a big issue with deer right across the country. In restoring biodiversity which is critically important, there is a major problem we have with – particularly deer and goats are grazing – so that no young trees can grow. We do need to manage that deer population, it’s a serious issue.”
The Green Party Minister was not the only one to call for the removal of the deer. Earlier this week, the Irish Wildlife Trust said it was “time to remove the deer from the Park”. The IWT's Padraic Fogarty wrote that meadow flowers don’t grow in the park because the deer are eating them.
He also argued that the population of the deer is increasing, and they inhibit or prevent the growth of trees. Deer would also be responsible for the lack of new native woodland in the park, or for the absence of “flower rich meadows humming with bees, grasshoppers and butterflies”.
“I think it’s now time to get rid of them,” he wrote, although he agreed any decision to remove them would not be popular. Animal rights activists have indeed been furious by the talks of culling the deer.
Animal Rights Action Network founder John Carmody called the concept of culling the deer 'short-sighted'. “We should know by now that deers culls are not effective,” he said, adding that they were only temporary solutions even if they were cheaper than neutering.
Neutering is the humane solution, Mr Carmody said, as opposed to giving contracts and licences to hunting groups in the country who would be "rubbing the palms of their hands right now, rolling up their sleeves and getting ready to polish their guns with a smile on their face".
“There's more and more calls these days to cull deer,” Mr Carmody said. “It's becoming too much now and there's no one talking about the more humane solution.
"It might cost more, but in the end it'll be more effective because we’ve too much war, we’ve too much divide, too much bloodshed, too much indifference and enough is enough. We should leave these animals alone.”
The fallow deer in Phoenix Park were imported over 350 years ago, and some of the deer living in the Park today are descendants of the original deer. While the population has varied greatly throughout the years, today they are maintained at 550 individuals, a number that is managed through culling every autumn.
The Office of Public Works is a member of the Irish Deer Society. They were awarded a trophy back in 2016 for meritorious service in the welfare, conservation, management and protection of deer in Ireland. A spokeswoman for the OPW said the trophy is “the society’s highest honour”.
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