Government plans legislation giving landowners and tenants rights to cull deer to protect crops and property
It will be much easier to shoot deer in England under government plans that aim to curb the damage the animals are doing to the country’s woodlands.
Emma Reynolds, the environment secretary, plans to bring forward new legislation to give landowners and tenants legal rights to shoot deer to protect crops and property.
Because there are no natural predators in England, deer are able to breed quickly and without any population controls. Four non-native deer species – muntjac, Chinese water deer, fallow and sika – have been introduced into the wild and have thrived. Only two deer species present in England, the red and roe, are native.
Overpopulation of deer causes problems for woodland: they eat leaves, buds and sapling stalks, and strip bark from mature trees, which can affect the trees’ health and make them susceptible to disease. Some deer, particularly the sika, rake their antlers against trees, which can kill younger wood.
