Revealed: Hundreds of wild deer culled in Carlow, new figures show

A total of 478 wild deer were culled in Carlow in the 12-month period to February 2022, according to data released by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to the Irish Deer Commission.

Overall 55,008 wild deer were culled in this period.

The cull sets a record for the number of wild deer culled, up 24% from the previous record set in 2019 when 44,381 deer were culled.

Hunters must make an annual declaration to NPWS stating the number of deer culled by county, sex, and species, and this data is provided to the Irish Deer Commission annually. While the data is not independently verified, hunters are required to sign a declaration confirming the accuracy of the information returned.

However, Damien Hannigan a spokesperson for the Irish Deer Commission stated "the actual deer cull is likely to be significantly higher as the cull total does not include wild deer killed illegally known as deer poaching, nor does the total include the growing number of deer killed on our roads.

"Over the last five years over 200,000 wild deer were culled in Ireland under licence from the NPWS and highlights the important role licensed deer hunters play in managing deer at sustainable levels to minimise negative impacts on farming, forestry, and the wider ecosystem.

"The Irish Deer Commission actively work with landowners who suffer negative impacts from wild deer, we also support the various agencies who deal with an increasing number of deer vehicle collisions on our roads through a network of trained members."

Why are more deer being culled? There may be several factors, firstly the number of hunters licensed to cull deer has grown significantly with 6,232 licenses issued in 2022, up 17% from the previous year when 5,344 licences were issued to cull deer during the open culling season from September 1st to February 28th, with dedicated periods when male and female deer can be culled.

There is no open season for native red deer in County Kerry due to their national conservation importance, management is undertaken by local NPWS staff. The average number of deer culled per hunter has remained between 6 to 8 deer annually since records began in 1999.

The Irish Deer Commission believe restrictions around the management of deer during the Covid-19 pandemic, combined with a worldwide crash in venison prices, delays by NPWS in the issuing of deer culling permits, poor forestry design for the management of deer, and a rapid expansion afforestation in Ireland, all have created the perfect storm for deer numbers to increase.

The Irish Deer Commission says best practice deer management requires more female deer to be culled than males, and the cull returns show the important job undertaken by licensed deer hunters with 26,216 females culled versus 22,401 males during the regular culling season. 6,751 deer were also culled out of season by the granting of permits under section 42 of the wildlife acts, with 924 permits granted by NPWS nationally, with 608 permits granted in County Wicklow alone which resulted in 4,717 deer culled.

Longford 111

Clare 1844

Louth 152

Cork 2492

Limerick 488

Cavan 269

Mayo 1730

Carlow 478

Meath 369

Donegal 1890

Monaghan 347

Dublin 1077

Offaly 1412

Galway 3618

Roscommon 646

Kildare 462

Sligo 1114

Kerry 2568

Tipperary 4770

Kilkenny 414

Waterford 3679

Laois 1951

Wicklow 15280

Leitrim 358

Westmeath 249

Out of Season 6751

Wexford 382

Out of state 135