Wildlife charity killing wildlife

[Blackbeard 10]

Yes, wasn't a manager at Saab killed after his vehicle collided with an elk several years ago?

 

When I was working up in Sweden a German Prof and his passenger hit an elk and both the elk and the occupants died. In Newfoundland the town has warnings on their website for visitors. http://www.town.stanthony.nf.ca/moose_advisory.php

Be careful out there.

[damageandy 10]

This month the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is shooting large numbers of red deer on Bigmoor and surrounding areas. They would prefer the public did not know about this because they believe it’s a sensitive issue. There’s been no press information and no notices on the moors. A letter in today’s Sheffield Telegraph from Friends of Blackamoor draws attention to it for the first time.

 

You might think that a charity dedicated to wildlife would only kill wildlife after considering every possible option and when problems have become critical over a long time. But this is not so in this case. Just over a year before they decided to kill deer the RSPB senior manager told a meeting of conservationists and environmentalists that they were having to put cows and sheep on the moors because there were nowhere near enough deer to manage the vegetation the way they wanted. Now they are killing a large number while continuing to graze with cows.

 

They have deliberately kept this quiet, supposedly because they think the public is not mature enough to understand. Has that happened elsewhere recently?

 

Its because they cause alot of damage some would even say devastation to woodland, which is completly different to what sheep and cows do - thier grazing habits are different. They havnt tried to keep it quiet its a national issue thats had loads of press attention over the years.

 

Deer are a rapidly expanding population which has no real natural predators to keep them under control.

[frenchfrie 10]

Its because they cause alot of damage some would even say devastation to woodland, which is completly different to what sheep and cows do - thier grazing habits are different. They havnt tried to keep it quiet its a national issue thats had loads of press attention over the years.

 

Deer are a rapidly expanding population which has no real natural predators to keep them under control.

 

I've got to totally disagree here. The Wildlife Trust actually encourage cutting down the woodland / trees on Blackamoor - birch bashing I think is their way of describing this. If wild deer are doing this job why do they need to too?

 

Deer make their own way across the moor avoiding places where others go. Cows trample and follow footpaths and gather at gates leaving steaming pats and mud and basically create an unholy mess.

 

It all goes back to the basic fact that stick cows or sheep up on the moor then that attracts farming subsidies (allegedly). But cows need to be fenced in hence the barbed wire the Wildlife Trust put up around Blacka. And I go up on Blacka very often and have seen at first hand what damage has been done to the true wildlife by being caught on the barbed wire.

 

A wildlife trust with their first thoughts for wildlife? Doesn't come across that way to me. If there's too much damage being done then take the cattle and sheep off, get rid of the barbed wire, stop the birch bashing and poisoning of the fern and let just one tiny corner revert to how nature intended to be.

 

And don't forget that is in complete keeping with J G Graves covenant not some agricultural drive to eek out more funding.

[Blackbeard 10]

There are a couple of ways to solve the problem and one was covered on the BBC news website yesterday

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31813207

Bring back the lynx and the other solution would be to reintroduce the wolf, we would probably not need to cull then they would do the job for us. I have been lucky enough to have seen the lynx in the wild and it is a magnificent creature.

[Victor Meldrew 33]

Deer are a rapidly expanding population which has no real natural predators to keep them under control.

 

Methinks it's humans that better fit this description.

 

The rspb do a lot of good things and this may be one of them. There may have been an extensive study with outside bodies and other conservation groups and, as it's the biggest in Europe, it's the rspb fronting it and it could very much be the right decision.

 

But, in my opinion, they don't always get it right.

 

I've been a member of the RSPB for 25+ years, until this year when I withdrew my support. I tried to engage with them over another issue where I felt they were behaving inappropriately but they just didn't want to know. I've found the reserve staff are great but the 'senior' staff at The Lodge are far too arrogant to engage with members who dare to question what they do. Unfortunately our clash of values was such that I felt I could no longer give my support.

[beansforyou 10]

"As someone who lived in places like Sweden and Newfoundland I have seen the damage wild life can do to cars and their occupants."

 

Compared to the opposite?

[vincentb 10]

Just over a year before they decided to kill deer the RSPB senior manager told a meeting of conservationists and environmentalists that they were having to put cows and sheep on the moors because there were nowhere near enough deer to manage the vegetation the way they wanted. Now they are killing a large number while continuing to graze with cows.

 

You do know that cattle and deer aren't interchangeable? Example 1: they feed in different ways - cattle will only graze (eat plants on the ground) while deer will also browse, eating foliage and bark off trees. Example 2: space needed. Domestic cattle are OK with being kept in relatively confined areas, but wild deer need to roam over wider areas.

 

So it might well be true that the number of deer, because of the way they feed, isn't enough to manage the vegetation in the desired way - while at the same time the number of deer, because of their other behaviours, is too much for the area.

[Blackbeard 10]

And we worry about cows and deer in the wild. http://abcnews.go.com/US/photo-captures-huge-alligator-roaming-florida-golf/story?id=29558822

[geared 321]

You could try here http://www.roundgreenfarm.co.uk/

Fresh venison is not recommended, it needs hanging. http://www.coolgameuk.com/catalogue/hanging_deer.php

 

Thanks Blackbeard! I think I will try a local supermarket after all. . .

 

You should visit Round Green farm, their meat is really good.

The Wild Boar sausages are pretty damn good as well

 

---------- Post added 13-03-2015 at 10:17 ----------

 

You do know that cattle and deer aren't interchangeable? Example 1: they feed in different ways - cattle will only graze (eat plants on the ground) while deer will also browse, eating foliage and bark off trees. Example 2: space needed. Domestic cattle are OK with being kept in relatively confined areas, but wild deer need to roam over wider areas.

 

Domestic cattle and sheep are also pretty stupid, quite lethargic, calm and tame. Except obviously for rams & bulls, during season.

 

It makes them quite easy to integrate to Joe public out for a ramble around the moors.

Neither present much real danger to the other party, and on the whole both will occupy the same area without much bother.

[Nagel 10]

How about introducing a few Lynx on Blacka Moor as has been proposed for 4 other areas of the UK?

[Blackbeard 10]

How about introducing a few Lynx on Blacka Moor as has been proposed for 4 other areas of the UK?

 

Beat you to it last night I also think a few wolves would help.

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10932079&postcount=28

 

---------- Post added 13-03-2015 at 10:56 ----------

 

Yes, wasn't a manager at Saab killed after his vehicle collided with an elk several years ago?

 

Your comment about the guy from Saab brought back some memories of the 1997 Mercedes A-Class failing the "Elk/Moose Test"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose_test

Or on video

Just the first bit, the original video seems to have gone?

[Walkley0 Mum 10]

Hello. Yes, I'm a member of Friends of Blackamoor and we have been enjoying the experience of having wild red deer on Blacka for about 12 years now. They are really beautiful creatures and the hinds have a wonderful relationship with their young which can continue for 2 years. When they are 'culled' the practice is to shoot the young first and then the mother hinds.

 

 

http://theblackamoorsite.blogspot.co.uk/

 

And are you a member of The British Association of Shooting and Conversation?

or- The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust

National Organisation of Beaters and Pickers up

The Game Farmers Association

The National Gamekeepers Association

The Countryside Alliance

The Country Land and Business Association

 

 

 

 

Or, putting it another way, do you like taking pop shots at game on the Moor?

Edited March 13, 2015 by Walkley0 Mum