Scottish deer cull sparks concerns over welfare

The vice-chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, Peter Fraser, has voiced his concerns about a proposed out-of-season cull of 690 red deer around Caenlochan in Angus designed to honour a target put in place by the now-defunct Deer Commission.

The target was made a decade ago to deal with damage to habitat and alpine plants from deer, but many believe it is now out of date.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is intending to honour the target of 19 deer per km2 by putting pressure on estates that have failed to meet it.

An out-of-season licence is in place until the end of February to allow estates to complete their culls.

The rest of this article appears in the 20th February issue of Shooting Times.

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