This morning.
Further to the killing this week of 34 deer in the Phoenix Park as part of a ‘managed cull’ by the Office of Public Works (OPW)…
…John Carmody, Of Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN), writes:
‘Phoenix Park is fast becoming a bloodbath for the intelligent and sensitive deer population who have lived and thrived in that park for centuries but are now lethally targeted only to end up on restaurant plates
We call on President Michael D. Higgins to come out and oppose the killing of these creatures that are literally roaming in his backyard, he’s been a known advocate against hunting over the years so he can no longer remain silent.
Is deer culling effective? Is hunting effective? No. Starvation and disease are unfortunate, but they are nature’s way of ensuring that the strong survive. Natural predators help keep prey species strong by killing the only ones they can catch—the sick and weak.
Hunters, however, kill any animal they come across or any animal whose head they think would look good mounted above the fireplace—often the large, healthy animals needed to keep the population strong.
And hunting creates the ideal conditions for overpopulation. After hunting season, the abrupt drop in population leads to less competition among survivors, resulting in a higher birth rate.’
Deer have no natural predators in a park, and are culled the world over to control population levels. Letting the numbers increase to the point starvation and illness take over is just nonsense. The deer will simply move to where food is, inside or outside the park.
Could close the park for a week and let lions from the zoo sort it out….
I don’t think the homeless people in the park would be too keen on that :)
Homeless problem and deer problem solved in one week – ‘work smarter, not harder’,
What predators?
Does John Carmody subscribe to the Eamon Ryan school of thought regarding having wolves roaming the streets?
the park will never be short of deer ffs
Fine as long as it is eaten, they have had an immeasurably better life than the pork sausages most outraged people had for breakfast…
“Starvation and disease are unfortunate, but they are nature’s way of ensuring that the strong survive.”
Broadsheet’s Covid 19 plan in a nutshell.
LOL
I don’t know how feasible it is, but there should be areas of the park where the deer cannot access. They eat everything and stop new growth of trees and other plants which need time to develop. if they had less space to feed, less deer would be born. While I don’t like the cull I can’t really criticise, considering my omnivorous diet.
Culling is not hunting.
Just move all the unvaccinated into the park, give them each a bow and arrow, lock the gates and let nature take it’s course.
Surely it’s a popular solution, no?
The government would never allow it – without the unvaccinated, who would they use as scapegoat?
So you are saying the scapegoats should be culled?
@Nullzero
You’ve been watching too much tele
Don’t they hangout in the park anyway.
They could organise a venison BBQ to help the homeless.
Bodger, you’ve done this one, year after year….
I know it is not exactly the same, but when I lived in Nairobi with Little slightly and her mom one of our favourite eateries was the Carnivore restaurant out by Wilson airport. A wonderful spot, they worked closely with the rangers of the adjacent national park. When culls happened, they bought the animals, and of a night you could get any kind of meat.
A local favourite was crocodile – ‘eat it before it eats you!’ I personally did not like it – it was chewy and tasted of fish.
When Little Slightly was very little her grandparents were over, and we went to the restaurant. The waiter came around with a particular meat, roasted over the coals, and offered it to us. His accent was such that Papa (oh he of the photography) thought it was hot beef. It was hartebeest, but it still tasted good!
Had the camel at Carnivore – delicious! No other meat like it.