Minister rules out contraceptives as means of controlling Phoenix Park deer population
The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe has ruled out the use of contraceptives as a means of controlling the wild deer population in the Phoenix Park.
Last month, the State-funded shooting dead of 34 deer in the Phoenix Park came under fire from animal rights activists.
However, in a written response to Clare Daly TD, Minister Donohoe has ruled a series of alternatives including contraception, sterilisation of males and live capture as a means of controlling the deer population there.
In his reply, Minister Donohoe states that there are no contraceptives licensed for use on wild deer in Ireland.
He pointed out that steroidal contraceptives are a significant risk in respect of pollution to both the environment and the food chain e.g. crows and foxes eat deer that have perished from natural causes.
Minister Donohoe added:
Oral contraceptives, similar to those used by humans, cannot be given to wild animals because other animals would potentially pick on leftovers of deer feed and would be adversely affected. Droppings and urine from the deer would also contaminate the habitat.
Minister Donohoe also pointed out the impracticalities of administering steroidal contraceptives.
He stated: “The main challenge in administering these steroids is that each female must get the correct dose. The only way to do this is to get close enough to each female deer to make sure that it receives the correct dose."
Minister Donohoe said: "This is entirely impractical in a large, wild herd as this form of artificial feeding would disrupt normal herd behaviour and, based on a study by UCD, a success rate of only 10-15% is achievable.”
The Minister also ruled out the sterilisation of males pointing out that it is deemed inefficient “as just one fertile male remaining in the herd is sufficient to sire a very large number of deer”.
The Minister also stated that the use of contraceptives for female deers “would have a significant effect on male stress and behaviour”.
“The males would inevitably fight for the limited number of oestrus females available. Male stress levels would be higher due to increased male competition for access to the fewer oestrus females.
"Many males would likely roam the Park in the continuous search of oestrus females, increasing the likelihood of being involved in traffic accidents and, as recorded in other study sites, they may attempt to leave the Park to look for females in the wider urban setting.”
Minister Donohoe also ruled out ‘live capture’ as a means of controlling the deer population in the Phoenix Park.
He said: “A live capture was carried out in 1991 with over 100 persons involved from Ireland and the UK. However, with current health & safety requirements, skills shortage and the size of the current herd, it is not practicable or safe to undertake this exercise today."
Minister Donohoe said that live capture takes hours to be completed. He stated: “Stress levels can reach abnormal levels in the animals leading to immune-depression and abortion in females.”
He also ruled out the use of tranquillizer for the administration of contraception. He said: “Darting of deer for capture to administer contraceptives would be an extremely dangerous procedure to undertake in a public park.
"Darts are often lost during such operations resulting in a dangerous hazard to the public and other wildlife. The quantities of tranquillizer required to sedate a deer could be fatal for humans which is obviously of particular concern in a park frequented by large volumes of visitors.”
Minister Donohoe said that such an exercise “would be costly, time-consuming and ineffective”.
“Ultimately, this would be an extremely dangerous procedure for the deer -if carried out from long-distances with the intention of capturing more animals - and for the public.”
The wild deer herd is an integral part of the biodiversity of the Phoenix Park and has been such for over 350 years. Adopting measures that would significantly reduce numbers instead of maintaining them at sustainable levels would have a major impact on the biodiversity of the Park and result in significant change to other wildlife habitats.
“The Office of Public Works (OPW) will continue to monitor options available to it in managing the wild herd and will continue to engage with the School of Biology and Environmental Science in University College Dublin, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Irish Deer Society in this regard.”
