The State-sanctioned killing of deer at one of the country’s top national parts has been condemned by animal welfare activists.
Gunfire could be heard around Killarney National Park, Co Kerry early on Wednesday morning as the slaughter began.
Wednesday was the first day of two planned deer culls by the National Parks and Wildlife Service with the second one due to go ahead on March 11.
The National Parks Service claims that the slaughter is necessary but protesters maintain there are alternatives ways of tackling the deer problem, including better fencing and transporting the deer to other parts of the country.
Animal welfare activists staged a peaceful protest outside the park early yesterday morning as the killing to highlight their opposition to the cull.
Ted Cronin, Deputy Leader of the Party for Animal Welfare told RTE’s Morning Ireland killing the deer is unnecessary.
He said: “Deer are living in their natural environment and there’s a lot of exaggeration from certain politicians that deer are taking over every estate and village in Killarney and causing damage to cars.
“There are other ways and means of getting the situation right. We could fence off certain places and there are contraceptive methods that have been used in other countries.
“They have also built brides over roads in other countries so the deer can cross over roads safely.
“Deer can be moved to different locations in the county and we could put speed bumps on certain roads to reduce speed.
“It’s not the deer’s fault, they have been here for years and they are a very important part of Killarney and they attract thousands and thousands of visitors.
“When this (the killing) gets out it’s going to do damage to tourism in Killarney.”
The National Parks and Wildlife Service claims the deer are damaging the oak woodlands and that there are also safety issue issues with the animals often straying onto busy roads in the area.
Sections of the park were closed to the public as part of the slaughter.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service claims that there are close to 1,500 deer in the park and round 240 deer will be shot during the two culls.
Last March local independent TD Danny Healy-Rae called for the army to be called into Kerry to deal with deer claiming they were “taking over”.
His brother Michael, also an independent Dail Deputy, also called for military assistance to tackle a rhododendron problem in the county.
