Hunting Ban for Kerry Red Deer, and Curlew

OpenYourEyes

http://www.thejournal.ie/ban-kerry-red-deer-645443-Oct2012/?utm_source=twitter_self

HUNTING OF THE Kerry female red deer has been banned, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan announced today.
The female of the species of deer has been removed from the Open Seasons Order which means that both male and female Kerry red deer are now prohibited.


“I have, therefore, decided that, in order to conserve the special lineage of red deer in Kerry, to prohibit the hunting of these unique species,” he said.

A welcome ban to help keep numbers of the Killarney herd up, and to prevent a situation where inbreeding depression becomes a problem.

The only disadvantage I can think of is that with higher numbers of reds, there'll be more breeding red deer on the edges of Killarney where crossbreeding with Sika and Red-Sika hybrids is more likely!

Some encouraging words from the NARGC. I think responsible and knowledgeable hunters can have a very important role in conservation in this country.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1022/breaking40.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Meanwhile, a separate ban has been imposed on the curlew as the wading bird is red-listed as a globally threatened species.
“A number of surveys and studies in the past year have estimated a rather dramatic reduction in the total number of breeding pairs of curlew in the country," said Mr Deenihan. "These estimates indicate a decrease ranging from 60 per cent to 96 per cent.”

Whilst I get the impression that few if any Curlew are hunted here in recent years, it's good that it's been adressed in law too

magicbastarder

interesting that this came from jimmy deenihan - i'd have assumed it'd be within hogan's department.

fits

I would like to see them actively encouraging the hunting of young hybrid hinds as well. To help prevent possible cross breeding in future.

OpenYourEyes

fits wrote: »

I would like to see them actively encouraging the hunting of young hybrid hinds as well. To help prevent possible cross breeding in future.

There's talk in one of those articles about coming up with a proper management plan for that herd I think, so hopefully they'll do that alright. Would need to be well targeted and will no doubt require a significant effort to do correctly, but its vital if the integrity of the Killarney herd is to remain intact alright!

recedite

magicbastarder wrote: »

interesting that this came from jimmy deenihan - i'd have assumed it'd be within hogan's department.

This is one of the few nuggets a Kerry TD can "deliver" to his constituents these days, now that shiny new roads,swimming pools, and ghost decentralization office blocks are gone with the wind.
Both articles refer to the Kerry Red "species" of deer. I suppose "race" is a dirty word now in Killarney as elsewhere in Ireland, so its a case of political correctness over actual correctness. Ironically, its the very Irishness of their racial DNA that makes it politically attractive to protect them (just saying!). Other purebred Red Deer in the country are descended from Scottish stock.

“Kerry red deer are a unique feature of our heritage,” he said. “I have, therefore, decided that, in order to conserve the special lineage of red deer in Kerry, to prohibit the hunting of these unique species.”

Good news anyway.

Biodegradable Bellend

I was aware that the Wicklow population had interbred with Sika, but wasn't aware that the Kerry population had done so. Is there any evidence of this? Thanks.

CJH moved Killarney Red Deer to Inishvickillane, in the 70's I think, not sure of numbers though, then or now.

aidoh

I'm glad it's officially banned but are both species not protected in some way or another under national, international and EU legislation, Be it the Wildlife Act, Birds / Habitats Directive?
There seems to be a big problem enforcing wildlife and broader environmental legislation in this country and in the UK.

I didn't know the curlew was globally threatened. I thought they had decent European-wide population numbers.

OpenYourEyes

aidoh wrote: »

I'm glad it's officially banned but are both species not protected in some way or another under national, international and EU legislation, Be it the Wildlife Act, Birds / Habitats Directive?
There seems to be a big problem enforcing wildlife and broader environmental legislation in this country and in the UK.

I didn't know the curlew was globally threatened. I thought they had decent European-wide population numbers.

All species are protected under the Wildlife Acts and Habitats and Birds Directives, but exemptions can be made for pests and hunting is viewed as a "legitimate activity" under those laws, so under certain conditions they can be hunted. Here's a link that says a little bit about hunting and the EU Birds Directive, the Habitats directive would say similar. I think there's a list of species that can be hunted in all EU countries, within reason. And then another list for species that can only be hunted in certain countires, under similar stipulations.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/wildbirds/hunting/index_en.htm

I think their numbers might still look respectable overall, but its the rate at which they've declined in such a short space of time that has them down as globally threatened!

OpenYourEyes

Biodegradable Bellend wrote: »

I was aware that the Wicklow population had interbred with Sika, but wasn't aware that the Kerry population had done so. Is there any evidence of this? Thanks.

CJH moved Killarney Red Deer to Inishvickillane, in the 70's I think, not sure of numbers though, then or now.

To the best of my knowledge the Killarney Reds havn't yet interbred to any significant extent with Sika. The Red-Sika hybrid swarm is moving from the East towards Kerry fairly rapidly though, and when they get to Killarney it's inevitable that they'll interbreed with the Killarney Reds.

Havn't read the paper in a few months, but I think it says something to that effect in "Genetic structure of, and hybridisation between, red(Cervus elaphus) and sika (Cervus nippon) deer in Ireland"

Half-cocked

I understand that the Red and Sika will not naturally hybridize in the wild, so the Kerry Reds and Sikas should stay separate. However, the Wicklow hybrids were the result of deliberate cross breeding in Powerscourt Estate in the 1800's. These hybrids can breed with both Reds and Sikas in the wild. This is where the threat is to the pure bred Kerry Reds. The Inishvickilanne herd is well managed as far as I am aware, so at least there is a population of Reds that will be safe from hybridization. The numbers do have to be kept low to ensure there isn't overgrazing on what is quite a small island.

recedite

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

The Red-Sika hybrid swarm is moving from the East towards Kerry fairly rapidly though, and when they get to Killarney it's inevitable that they'll interbreed with the Killarney Reds.

That might be a bit of an exaggeration; it sounds like a swarm of zombies or something on the move
IMO a bigger threat for the Kerry native genes will be escaped domesticated Reds from deer farms.
There are strains of Red around that have been bred in Eastern Europe and New Zealand with bigger antlers and more meat on them.

In regard to the Wicklow hybrids, at least they are vigorous. I think nearly half the wild deer shot in Ireland are culled in Wicklow, and still there are loads more around.

OpenYourEyes

recedite wrote: »

That might be a bit of an exaggeration; it sounds like a swarm of zombies or something on the move
IMO a bigger threat for the Kerry native genes will be escaped domesticated Reds from deer farms.
There are strains of Red around that have been bred in Eastern Europe and New Zealand with bigger antlers and more meat on them.

In regard to the Wicklow hybrids, at least they are vigorous. I think nearly half the wild deer shot in Ireland are culled in Wicklow, and still there are loads more around.

It's a technical term rather than an exaggeration But it does conjure up a strange image in the imagination alright!