Dealing with deer carcasses on the hill

Why does the Trust sometimes leave culled deer carcasses on the hillside where the animal fell?

Based on the most recent estimates, there are nearly one million wild deer in Scotland. That’s around one animal for every five people – and, in most places, a far higher number than a healthy landscape can sustain. Consequently, the Trust has welcomed the recent Scottish Government consultation on deer legislation with its emphasis on reducing deer numbers as a nature restoration method.

“As a nature conservation charity dedicated to protecting and restoring wild places, we have a responsibility to the nation as a whole to manage the land under our stewardship to the highest environment standards,” says Chief Executive, David Balharry.

Deer management is a critical part of this stewardship for the simple reason that high numbers of deer prevent the restoration of healthy habitats. It is for this reason that the Trust has increased the cull of deer on the land it manages to give habitats respite from the relentless browsing pressure of so many hungry mouths.

All land managers in Scotland agree that, in the absence of natural predators, culling is the only effective method of controlling deer numbers. But where the Trust and all other environmentally focused land managers (be they public, private, eNGO or community) disagree with ‘traditional’ sporting estates is on the number of deer to cull.

The classic Highland sporting estate model has evolved into one where stags abound, particularly in the autumn, when clients shoot the deer for sport. Associated with these high deer numbers are a number of traditions that have become embedded in the culture, including ‘honouring’ the deer that has been killed by making full use of the carcass.

Typically, this involves removing it to an off-road vehicle, then driving, often for many miles, over rugged terrain to a larder, where the carcass is then passed to a game dealer and on into the human food chain. However, the real cost of this endeavour – in terms of labour, fuel and environmental damage – versus the relative low income from the sale of venison, often makes little economic sense.

Nor does it make ecological sense. In a natural system, large predators would, after killing and feeding on a deer, leave most of the carcass in situ. Such carcasses are important for supporting biodiversity as they attract and host a variety of essential scavengers, insects, bacteria and fungi. They also provide vital nutrition to predators when food is scarce. 

“As with any wild animal that has died, its nutrients return to the soil and support a rich ecosystem,” comments Mike Daniels, the Trust’s Head of Policy. 

It is in part for this reason that, as well as extracting whole carcasses, the Trust also either extracts some meat from the carcass in situ or leaves it completely to nature.

But there are other reasons, too. “Deer carcasses may be left on the hill where extraction is difficult or dangerous because of remoteness or ruggedness,” adds Mike. “We do not use vehicles, which would carry a carbon impact as well as cause environmental damage, especially to fragile peaty soils. In such situations, deer are butchered on the hill and the best cuts are taken away on foot at the stalker’s discretion.”

Such an approach is common in Scandinavia, North America and New Zealand, where doing so is considered conservation best practice. Whole deer carcasses are also left in the environment where they are shot when animals show signs of disease and are not fit for human consumption, or when the carcass is simply too emaciated to enter the human food chain.