'Deer are destroying habitats': push to put venison on UK plates
"This is crazy and indefensible," says MP Charles Walker. "Venison is a wonderful, sustainable resource, but it's considered too fancy to eat, therefore - very few people eat it and it ends up being turned into dog food. It's a contradiction of mind-blowing proportions. »
From ancient Celtic folklore and Arthurian romance to the Harry Potter films and Warcraft games, it is the iconic stag that is evoked to symbolize the spirit of ancient England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
But now conservationists, conservationists and the farming community gathered to warn that Milton's "greatest earthborn behemoth" is destroying the campaign she came to represent.
Through a two-year hiatus in culling during Covid, the deer population is at its highest level in 1,000 years: at around 2 million animals - there are 50 years ago the population was 450,000 - there are more deer nibbling trees and crops today than when William the Conqueror arrived.
These herds are growing exponentially: at the current rate there will be almost 2.4 million deer in the UK by the end of the year.
“There has no natural predators left," said Jim Lee, Forestry England's chief wildlife officer. "Bears, wolves and lynx are long gone. Control by culling is the only plausible answer, otherwise deer destroy the habitats of our native flora and fauna, as well as the ability of trees and soils to sequester carbon from the atmosphere."
Given of how quickly deer reproduce, at least 750,000 animals need to be culled this year just to stop this huge population from increasing further.However, thanks to post-Brexit complications over the export of meat and with no UK market for venison, only 350,000 animals are currently slaughtered each year.
At the same time, an increasing number of families affected by the cost of living crisis need healthy diets, especially protein-rich food groups, including meat.
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"This is crazy and indefensible," says MP Charles Walker. "Venison is a wonderful, sustainable resource, but it's considered too fancy to eat, therefore - very few people eat it and it ends up being turned into dog food. It's a contradiction of mind-blowing proportions. »
From ancient Celtic folklore and Arthurian romance to the Harry Potter films and Warcraft games, it is the iconic stag that is evoked to symbolize the spirit of ancient England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
But now conservationists, conservationists and the farming community gathered to warn that Milton's "greatest earthborn behemoth" is destroying the campaign she came to represent.
Through a two-year hiatus in culling during Covid, the deer population is at its highest level in 1,000 years: at around 2 million animals - there are 50 years ago the population was 450,000 - there are more deer nibbling trees and crops today than when William the Conqueror arrived.
These herds are growing exponentially: at the current rate there will be almost 2.4 million deer in the UK by the end of the year.
“There has no natural predators left," said Jim Lee, Forestry England's chief wildlife officer. "Bears, wolves and lynx are long gone. Control by culling is the only plausible answer, otherwise deer destroy the habitats of our native flora and fauna, as well as the ability of trees and soils to sequester carbon from the atmosphere."
Given of how quickly deer reproduce, at least 750,000 animals need to be culled this year just to stop this huge population from increasing further.However, thanks to post-Brexit complications over the export of meat and with no UK market for venison, only 350,000 animals are currently slaughtered each year.
At the same time, an increasing number of families affected by the cost of living crisis need healthy diets, especially protein-rich food groups, including meat.
after newsletter promotion
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