more bad weather will have devastating consequences says crown estate gamekeeper
Snow kills large number of estate’s roe deer
Published:
Nearly half of all roe deer stocks on a Moray estate have starved to death because of thick snow covering the hillsides.
Head gamekeeper of the Glenlivet Estate – the Highland sporting estate owned by the Crown Estate – Alistair Mitchell said he was finding deer carcases daily and the strongest had survived with half their body weight. He estimated 30% of the estate’s roe deer have been killed off.
He said further heavy snowfall would have devastating consequences for the remaining hillside stocks.
The Met Office last night said it was predicting snowfall over the north-east on Tuesday.
The Deer Commission Scotland last week warned it expected to see substantial losses over the coming weeks. Mr Mitchell said he had called an end to shooting hinds in December, well before the end of the season on Monday.
“We won’t shoot any more deer now unless it is a welfare issue,” he added.
He said he expected high mortality rates to continue as herds struggle to find food over the winter period.
He added: “There has not been grass sticking out of the ground here at all since December 19. We have certainly lost a lot of hinds or young calves. We went through the plantation the other day and personally I saw five lying dead and there’s a lot that are looking shabby.
“If we get any more bad weather they’ll be for the chop. There’s no grass for them at all.
“They have come down to eat, and the deer in the woodlands are stripping all the bark off the trees which obviously affects the forest. This has got a knock-on effect for everybody.”
The Met Office said yesterday: “An advisory is out at the moment for Tuesday when we expect some snowy weather around. Possibly we could see 5cm (2in) or slightly more than that.”
