Rory Putman is a widely published and highly renowned expert on deer in Britain and internationally (and no stranger to deer in Ireland), with a strong academic record, who needs little introduction in the world of deer. Following a lengthy career at University Professorship level, he is a respected Environmental and Wildlife Consultant, Emeritus Professor at Manchester Metropolitan University, Visiting Professor at the Universities of Utrecht and Glasgow.
His most recent publication, “British Deer and Their Management – A Personal Reflection” (2024), considers the current position of wild deer in today’s environment, including their impact on agriculture and forestry. His views are relevant to any debate on the position of wild deer in Ireland and bear some thoughtful consideration by the “powers that be” which ultimately have control on how deer are managed.
In a wide-ranging analysis of what he calls “Management Issues and Issues with Management”, Putman makes many telling points, worthy of consideration at every level.
He states that “Deer are not universally environmental vandals as some [ ] national organisations frequently portray them in the press or other popular media, nor responsible for all the ills in our landscape. Deer unquestionably have an ecological impact, but that impact – ecologically speaking – is environmentally neutral, neither intrinsically good, nor bad. It simply is. It only registers as “damage” where it conflicts with (entirely human-determined) objectives for environment outcomes” (p. 143).
He goes on, “Only in some areas do deer of one or another species reach really high local densities – and, even then, only in some of those areas are their impacts in serious conflict with our own environment objectives in terms of damage to agriculture, forestry or conservation management or through risks of disease transference, deer-vehicle collisions or whatever. Yet these few (dare I say “exceptional”) cases to see all deer, of all species, vilified in some quarters and that negative attitude has seemingly infiltrated Government. Further, the inevitable response is a call to kill more deer across the board to reduce population numbers., whereas [ ] impacts are not necessarily related in any simple way to deer density, but mediated by a whole host of other factors. Thus, despite the persistence of a widespread belief that impacts from deer are bound to be closely related to density, all available evidence suggests that the story is not nearly so simple and that such presumption on the part of managers and agencies of a direct relationship between deer density and deer impacts is somewhat naïve”.
Overall, Rory Putman provides much valid and valuable commentary which merits careful consideration in the context of the current relentless and persistent vilification and demonisation of wild deer in Ireland by certain vested interests.
