Page 22 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #12

Clockwise from top fallow deer are also Lochaber and Beinn Eighe in Wester Ross
left: Colin Murdoch stalked in Scotland;
feeds deer in winter the number of antler
at Reraig Forest; deer branches increase
fences are marked with a stag's age; it is
with anti-collision hoped that woodland
tape for woodland will cover 21 per cent
grouse; roe, sika and of Scotland by 2032.
of young trees. It wasn’t until the turn of the
millennium, however, that a growing body
of environmental legislation finally ignited
change in Glenfeshie and a significant, but
contentious, deer cull took place at the estate.
“The change on the ground happened
very quickly,” says Thomas MacDonell,
Wildland’s Conservation Director. “With a
ready-made seed source from the ageing
trees, a young forest quickly started to grow.
People talk about the trees creeping up the
hill but I would suggest that, if you relieve
them of grazing pressure, they sprint up.”
Povlsen’s ambition, to combine
landscape-scale habitat restoration
with wider economic benefits for local
communities, is a model that is now
enticing other eco-philanthropists.
Despite the huge size of these
private estates, they remain as
relative dots on the map. But
increasingly, those dots are
creeping closer to other dots.
Established woodland
regeneration schemes, run
by conservation groups
and government agencies –
such as those in Abernethy
Forest, Creag Meagaidh in
22 BBC Wildlife
The facts about
– are creating a growing, inter-connected
network of landholdings, all committed to a
new model for Highland land management.
Moreover, these initiatives have all shown
that, despite long-held perceptions to the
contrary, trees can grow in the Highlands
without the need for intrusive fencing,
as long as grazing pressure is controlled.
But what does that control look like? How
many deer is too many? There is a sizeable
body of research that can now answer these
questions from an ecological perspective.
Making the numbers work
It is generally accepted that to allow ground
flora and woodland to regenerate naturally,
or planted trees to survive, deer densities
need to be no higher than five per sq km.
The regeneration of woodland in Glenfeshie
has taken place with red deer at around two
per sq km. On some traditional stalking
estates, 40 animals per sq km isn’t unusual.
Colin Murdoch is an experienced
deerstalker on Scotland’s west coast and
laments the large-scale culls that have
taken place in recent years. “I hate what
has become the ethnic cleansing of red
deer,” he says. Colin is highly
suspicious of the motivations of
conservationists and government
agencies forcing their will on
rural life. “They want to see
the end of sporting estates,
although they’ll never admit it.”
Colin’s perspective is not
uncommon amongst traditional
deer managers and although
deer stalking
O Scotland’s stag stalking season runs
July to October and the hind season is
October to February. Neither hunting
window is something that natural
predators would recognise.
O Each year, around 60,000 red deer are
shot across Scotland, with cull targets set
voluntarily by Deer Management Groups.
These consist of local landowners and
deer managers, with diverse objectives.
O There is no formal qualification required
to shoot deer in Scotland; a typical day of
guided red deer stalking costs between
£350 and £550. Many landowners benefit
from a more lucrative accommodation and
stalking package that includes the rental
of the estate lodge. This can bring
in around £7,000 per week.
his conviction reflects a deep affection for
the animals that have shaped his life, it
also reveals a resistance to change – change
that he sees as a threat rather than as an
opportunity.
Another rewilder who has attracted much
media attention over the last decade is Paul
Lister, owner of Alladale Wilderness Reserve
in Sutherland. Alladale wants to regenerate
its native woodland, but is surrounded by
December 2018