Wild deer welfare: perceptions and research
Why focus on the welfare of wild deer?
The two key reasons are:
- To take account of the principle that increasing management intervention with wild deer imposes an increasing responsibility for their welfare.
- The general public might reasonably expect the deer sector to have a common understanding of their responsibility to safeguard the welfare of wild deer.
What are current perceptions of deer welfare?
Perceptions on what constitutes wild deer 'welfare' are varied, confused and at times unclear. This is in part because deer welfare has always been considered an implicit part of deer management and has never been explicitly defined or articulated.
Recently, however, an increased interest in and awareness of 'welfare' has led to the expectation that the welfare responsibilities associated with wild deer should be articulated and become an explicit component of deer management.
This is in part as a result of the recent Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. Whilst this Act does not encompass wild animals, the thinking, discussions and debate that led up the development and evolution of the Act brought into the spotlight the concept of our responsibility to the welfare of all animals. This raised awareness and resulted in a desire/need to articulate our responsibilities to wild deer.
Reports and research on deer welfare
Several reports have looked to better understand how we can practically better safeguard deer welfare. These are available here:
