Sika deer have become firmly established in the UK following escapes from private collections, but due to their secretive nature their success has largely gone under the radar. We worked with deer manager Niall Rowantree and other experts to produce this major new series, exploring the reasons for their success, how they may shape the future of deer management in the UK, and how deer managers go about controlling them.
If you enjoy this series, you’ll love our series A Year in the Life of Red Deer
In Part 3, Niall Rowantree is trying to keep the sika deer off a restocked forestry plantation, with the help of paying clients. Plus, unlike recreational stalkers, Niall has a licence to shoot at night. It is not easy, and can be dangerous without the right kit and strategy. When Niall eventually gets up close to a sika stag he discovers it must have been hit by a car, but incredibly this tough creature has survived its injuries.
Niall Rowantree reckons sika will replace red deer as the dominant species in Scotland. It’s partly because the drive for re-forestation is creating the perfect habitat for these secretive deer, and partly that stalkers tend to go after the easier reds. In this last episode of our series, Niall turns to fellow deer professionals to test his ideas, hearing from Professor Rory Putman and specialist drone operator Ben Harrower from BH Wildlife Consultancy.
1. What does NatureScot estimate the size of the sika deer population to be in Scotland?
There is no definitive figure, however the most recent estimates suggest that there are over 45,000 sika deer in Scotland.
2. Does NatureScot believe sika densities in Scotland are a cause for concern?
Yes. NatureScot’s policy is to significantly reduce the number of sika, restrict their further spread and prevent establishment of new populations in the wild. As an example, we are currently running a pilot scheme on the south-eastern side of Loch Ness in the Highlands where the focus is on incentivising control of invasive non-native sika deer in important native woodlands as well as commercial forestry.
3. Your predecessor the Deer Commission for Scotland had previously imposed a section 7 predominantly for sika, why has NatureScot not done likewise?
DCS did use Section 7 management agreements in the Peebles area between 1998 and 2003. This was aimed at promoting greater collaboration across multiple land holdings to tackle damage to public interests and increase sika culls within the upper Tweed catchment. More recently, focus has been on upland red deer populations and using regulatory tools where appropriate to formalise deer management to achieve population and habitat impact targets. The current structure of forestry across Scotland and further woodland expansion now brings to the fore the importance of effective management of all woodland species including red, roe and fallow and sika at a national scale. Against this changing picture, NatureScot will continue to keep under review its full suite of current regulatory powers that could be used to deliver targeted management.
4. Does NatureScot have the resources to enforce a Section 8 Control Scheme if a final backstop was required?
Yes, we prioritise resources on a case-by-case basis and have the capacity to enforce a section 8 control scheme in the event that a section 7 control agreement were to fail and progression to a section 8 was required.
5. Is NatureScot concerned the health of the native red deer population may be jeopardised because they are “easy” to count and kill, creating a vacuum for the highly adaptable invasive sika deer to step into?
Sika are adaptive and their range is expanding; they can also hybridise with red deer. This is not a deer health, or welfare issue as such. We are making more use of drones to count deer in woodland (sika and red). This will help to address our historic emphasis on open range counting by helicopter.
Deer stalker and wildlife manager Niall Rowantree talks to deer biologist Professor Rory Putman about government policy on deer. Rory explains the changing populations of different deer and the rise of the sika, while reds struggle. They discuss new deer management challenges, hybridisation, rewilding, and the idea of introducing wolves and lynx to control deer, which Rory regards as fantasy.
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Ben Harrower from BH Wildlife Consultancy uses a thermal drone for a unique aerial view of how the six UK deer species populations, and our wild boar, are expanding and contracting across the UK. As part of our filming for ‘A Year in the Life of Sika’, Ben covers all aspects of his work from the advances in drone tech to the incredible wildlife moments he is able to witness from 400ft in the air. Find BH Wildlife Consultancy at BHWildlifeconsultancy.com
For other ways to listen to this podcast, visit FieldsportsChannel.tv/fieldsportschannelpodcast115/Professor Rory Putman and Niall Rowantree discuss Scotland’s next big deer problem. The Scottish government has successfully wiped out large numbers of iconic Scottish red deer. In their place are coming a new, invasive species, Japanese sika. More a horde than a herd, our experts expect they will be Scotland’s number one deer within a few years.
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