The Management of Wild Deer in Scotland Report of the Deer Working Group RED DEER ROE DEER SIKA DEER FALLOW DEER 1 The Management of Wild Deer in Scotland Report of the Deer Working Group Simon Pepper OBE, Andrew Barbour, Dr Jayne Glass Presented to Scottish Ministers by the Deer Working Group December 2019 2 Front Cover Maps The maps show the distributions in 2016 of the four species of wild deer that occur in Scotland. The maps are shown at a larger scale in Section 2 of the Report. The Deer Working Group is very grateful to the British Deer Society for providing these maps. © Crown copyright 2020 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected]. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. This publication is available at www.gov.scot Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at The Scottish Government St Andrew’s House Edinburgh EH1 3DG ISBN: 978-1-83960-525-3 Published by The Scottish Government, February 2020 Produced for The Scottish Government by APS Group Scotland, 21 Tennant Street, Edinburgh EH6 5NA PPDAS687714 (02/20) 3 PREFACE PREFACE The Deer Working Group was established by the Scottish Government in 2017, as a result of the Government’s concern at the continuing issues over the standards of deer management in Scotland and the levels of damage to public interests caused by wild deer. The Group was appointed as an independent working group to review the existing statutory and non-statutory arrangements for the management of wild deer in Scotland, taking account of the position with each of the four species of wild deer in Scotland and the varying circumstances across Scotland. This Report is the result of the Group’s review and contains a wide range of recommendations to fulfil the Group’s remit to make “recommendations for changes to ensure effective deer management that safeguards public interests and promotes the sustainable management of wild deer”. 4 THE MANAGEMENT OF WILD DEER IN SCOTLAND CONTENTS CONTENTS Introduction Part One - Wild Deer in Scotland 1 Legal Status, Hunting Rights and Regulatory Framework 17 2 National Distributions, Populations and Culls 30 3 Public Authority, Functions and Interests 50 Part Two - Public Safety and Deer Welfare (in all circumstances) 4 How wild deer can be killed lawfully 57 5 Times of year when wild deer can be killed lawfully 64 6 Times of day when wild deer can be killed lawfully 79 7 How and when wild deer can be taken lawfully 85 8 Occupiers, Authorised and Competent Persons 89 9 Prevention of Suffering and Wildlife Crime 104 10 Wild Deer and Diseases 109 11 Wild Venison and Food Safety 117 12 Wild Deer and Other Deer 130 Part Three - Damage to Public Interests (in particular circumstances) 13 Damage by Wild Deer 144 14 Agriculture and Forestry 152 15 Public Safety 167 16 Natural Heritage 176 17 Non-Native Deer Species 190 18 Deer Welfare 203 19 Other Public Interests 216 20 Economics of Wild Deer 223 5 THE MANAGEMENT OF WILD DEER IN SCOTLAND CONTENTS Part Four - Compulsory Powers 21 Information - Cull Returns 234 22 Information - Other Powers 249 23 Emergency Control Measures 256 24 Control Schemes 266 Part Five - Non-Statutory Arrangements 25 Scottish Government 282 26 Scottish Natural Heritage 293 Part Six - Refocused Approach 27 Deer Authority 308 28 Regulatory System 325 Part Seven - Way Forward 29 Conclusions 340 30 Summary of Recommendations 344 Annex 1 Deer Working Group Terms of Reference Annex 2 Deer Working Group Members and Advisers Annex 3 List of legislation related to the management of wild deer in Scotland: 1948-2018 Annex 4 Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 - Table of Contents Annex 5 Summary of Amendments to the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 in 2011 and 2015 Annex 6 Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 - sequential list of recommended amendments Annex 7 Notes on some Notifiable Diseases affecting wild deer Annex 8 Comparison of cull returns and venison dealer returns for red deer 1973-2009 Annex 9 Scottish Natural Heritage’s Cull Return Form 2016-17 Annex 10 Long Term Visions for Wild Deer in Scotland from 2000, 2008 and 2014 Annex 11 Wild Deer: A National Approach - Indicators and Trends (2016) 6 THE MANAGEMENT OF WILD DEER IN SCOTLAND LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1 A satellite view of Scotland Figure 2 The legal status of wild deer in some European countries Figure 3 Woodland cover in Scotland by county (1895-2011) Figure 4 Distributions of wild deer in Scotland in 1990 Figure 5 Distributions of wild deer in Scotland in 2016 Figure 6 National population estimates for wild deer in Scotland (1990-2013) Figure 7 Climate trends for Scotland – annual mean temperature change (1910-2013) Figure 8 National cull statistics (1996/97 to 2017/18) Figure 9 National cull return coverage (2017/18) Figure 10 National cull totals from cull returns as a percentage of the estimated total cull in 2016/17 Figure 11 Cull statistics by Local Authority area (2016/17) Figure 12 Number of deer culled in each Local Authority area (2014/15) Figure 13 National cull statistics by species and land use type (2011-16) Figure 14 Section 1 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 as amended Figure 15 Current close seasons for wild deer in Scotland Figure 16 Total number of deer of each species reported as killed out of season each year under Specific Authorisations Figure 17 Distribution of out of season and night shooting authorisations by Local Authority area in 2016/17 Figure 18 Total number of deer of each species reported as killed at night each year under Specific Authorisations Figure 19 Number of people on the fit and competent register Figure 20 Number of DSC1 holders between 2009 and 2015 Figure 21 Numbers and distribution of DSC1 and DSC2 holders in Scotland per 100km2 (2018) Figure 22 Samples and cases of Lyme Disease in Scotland (1996-2014) Figure 23 Percentage of donors tested seropositive for B.burgdorferi antibodies by postcode area of residence (2010/11) Figure 24 Cull returns and venison dealer returns for red deer (1973-2009) Figure 25 Distribution of venison dealers in Scotland (2018) Figure 26 Estimated number of venison dealers in Scotland by Local Authority area (2018) Figure 27 Number of farmed deer recorded in the June Agricultural Census (2007-2018) Figure 28 Distribution of holdings with farmed deer by agricultural region (2017) 7 THE MANAGEMENT OF WILD DEER IN SCOTLAND LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 29 Extract from section 7(1) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 Figure 30 Tree cover as a percentage of Scotland’s land area (1895-2011) Figure 31 Forestry and Land Scotland deer management costs (2014/15-2018/19) Figure 32 Forestry and Land Scotland deer cull by species (2008/09-2018/19) Figure 33 Number of DVCs recorded in the core data sources (2008-2018) Figure 34 Distribution and frequency of DVCs per 4km by 4km square from all core data sources Figure 35 Distribution of fallow deer in Scotland Figure 36 Distribution of sika deer in Scotland Figure 37 The distribution of muntjac deer in the UK Figure 38 Number and verification status of muntjac records in five-year periods to 2017 Figure 39 Indicators of deer welfare in wild deer Figure 40 Reported winter mortality of deer (2009/10-2017/18) Figure 41 Winter mortality of deer by species (2012/13-2017/18) Figure 42 Summary of costs associated with deer and deer management (2016 prices) Figure 43 Summary of benefits associated with deer and deer management (2016 prices) Figure 44 Capital values attributed to stags in Scotland (1976-2017) Figure 45 Number of section 40 notices served and returns received (2006/07-2015/16) Figure 46 Section 40 notices served and returns received by Local Authority area (2016/17) Figure 47 Local Authority land area covered by cull returns (2015/16) Figure 48 Distribution of cull returns in Perth and Kinross (2016/17) Figure 49 Land areas recorded in the Land Register of Scotland Figure 50 Number of cases where section 6 authorisations were used to control marauding red deer (1960-1989) Figure 51 Locations where sections 10 and 11 were used by the DCS (2004-09) Figure 52 Section 7 Control Agreements locations and durations (1993/94-2018/19) Figure 53 Number and purpose of section 7 Control Agreements in operation (1993-2019) Figure 54 Deer management structures in 2019 Figure 55 Annual cull totals for the 44 DMGs in the SNH assessment process (2013/14-2017/18) Figure 56 Distribution of the red deer cull in the 44 assessed DMGs by size of cull recorded (2016/17) Figure 57 Densities of red deer in the 53 DMAs (2019) 8 THE MANAGEMENT OF WILD DEER IN SCOTLAND INTRODUCTION Figure 1 A satellite view of Scotland, in which the line of the Highland Boundary Fault across Scotland between the Firth of Clyde and the Aberdeen area can be seen. 9 THE MANAGEMENT OF WILD DEER IN SCOTLAND INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION The Group 1 The Scottish Government concluded that significant issues remain over the management of wild deer in Scotland, following reports on deer management from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) in 2016 and the Scottish Parliament’s Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee in 2017.1,2 2 In June 2017, the Government announced its intention to set up an independent working group to examine current issues over the standards of deer management in Scotland and recommend changes to help resolve these issues in ways that promote sustainable deer management.3 3 The establishment of the independent Deer Working Group (DWG) was then announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform in October 2017.4 The Group’s Terms of Reference (Annex 1) included its remit: “The Group will make recommendations for changes to ensure effective deer management in Scotland that safeguards public interests and promotes the sustainable management of wild deer.” 4 The members of the DWG appointed by Scottish Ministers were Simon Pepper OBE (Chairman), Andrew Barbour and Dr Jayne Glass.