Wildlife management department

[timmy]

Sometimes managing wildlife requires actions that seem opposed to the basic purpose of the job. But with the elimination of so many predators in today's environments, something has to be done to keep runaway animal populations in check. The point is, does not the human being, as a "top predator" in the environmental food chain, have a place and purpose in the form of the sportsman?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21688447

[Mack The Knife]

The point is, does not the human being, as a "top predator" in the environmental food chain, have a place and purpose in the form of the sportsman?

Without a doubt.

What's more, in the history of mankinds evolution, farming is a relatively recent phenomenon and it only started about 10,000 years ago after the last Pleistocene age. We are genetically wired as hunter-gatherers and that has not changed during these 10,000 years and neither will it during and after the next 10,000.

[xl_target]

In a statement, the RSPCA said it was "opposed in principle to the killing or taking of all wild animals unless there is strong science to support it, or evidence that alternatives are not appropriate.

"Even if a cull is supported by science, it is very important that it is carried out in a humane and controlled way.

"Any decision to carry out a cull must be taken on a case by case basis based on the specific issues which impact a specific area. We don't believe this should be rolled out in a uniform way across the whole country. It is certainly not a case of one size fits all."

The Deer Initiative (DI), which is dedicated to a sustainable, managed deer population in England and Wales, has carried out research into how a cull might be carried out. They say that data on deer numbers and those culled need to be continually reviewed to assess whether culling levels need to be adjusted.

But its says that one off, heavy culls, followed by little or no culling, never achieve a sustained drop in numbers. Reduction culls need to be substantial and usually need to run over a number of years to be effective. They must then be consolidated by following with a realistic maintenance cull.

Hmm! Sounds like this situation is tailor made for hunting seasons but notice how very carefully (in the article) they avoid mentioning the words "hunt" or "hunting". If you had a managed hunting season, you could have these animals culled without the tax payer having to pay a dime. In fact people will pay for the privilege.
How in gods name do you cull a wild animal in "a humane and controlled way", apart for shooting them? If you're going to shoot them anyway, why not have hunters do it?

[Vikram]

I read it this morning.

Hunters/stalkers do take a lot of deer and there are no bag limits in UK. Muntjacs and Chinese Water deer have no seasons.But apparently that is not enough it seems. In UK they call it culling as it is part of deer management. Also, these deer populations are location specific.

Problem is, the great majority of lands are in private hands and the most of the deer live there though they are not privately owned.AFAIK,no hunting is allowed on public hands which are too few anyway. The government controls the deer management.To be able to hunt, one needs the permission of the land owners which proves to be the single biggest hurdle for the beginners. Unless you are lucky to get initiated into the sport by family/friends connections, you will have to fork out money to get in and sometimes even that is not enough as farmers would be averse to let strangers onto their lands. It still is far less cheaper than in rest of the Western Europe.

Best-
Vikram