Scientists say carcasses of deer should be left to rot
Researchers claim removing the carcasses of culled deer deprives ecosystems of vital nutrients.
Researchers at Edinburgh and Yale Universities claim that removing deer carcasses from the land following a cull could be undermining habitat restoration.
A recent study by the two universities suggests that taking deer carcasses off the hill to be used in the human food chain is depriving habitats of hundreds of thousands of kilos of vital nutrients.
The ecologists who published the paper estimated that 251,188kg of calcium, 195,652kg of nitrogen and 152,834kg of phosphorus are lost across Scotland each year and that the nutrient deficit from culling was more severe than that produced from sheep farming.
The researchers said low-calcium soils can hinder commercial and native woodland regeneration and affect the shell thickness of birds’ eggs. The study was in part based on deer cull data from 2010-22, provided by NatureScot.
Charles Smith-Jones, technical adviser to the British Deer Society, told ST: “The British Deer Society accepts that there is some merit in leaving limited numbers of deer carcasses in appropriate locations to support the natural environment.
“We would, however, much prefer to see the majority properly processed into venison as a valuable, healthy and sustainable food resource.”
