Months-old baby fawns among 38 deer killed by sniper in Phoenix Park
Exclusive: The carcasses of the young deer were sold to a meat company by the OPW for as little as €12.24 each, according to documents seen by the Irish Mirror
A number of baby fawns were among 38 deer killed by a sniper in the Phoenix Park during two culls earlier this year, before their carcasses were sold to a meat company for as little as €12 each.
A total of 20 deer were shot dead during an organised cull on January 11, four of which were less than one year old. Two of the animals were shot in the head, while the rest died of bullet wounds to the chest.
Another 18 deer were killed on February 15, two of which were just one year old. All of these were male, whereas all but three of the deer culled in January were female, according to records released under freedom of information laws.
READ MORE: Hundreds of deer buried in mass grave in Phoenix Park
READ MORE: Mass grave for wild deer in Phoenix Park shut down amid contamination concerns
A marksman was paid a total of €3,500 by the Office of Public Works (OPW) for carrying out the cull, as well as butchering the carcasses on site and delivering them to a meat company in Kildare. The company paid the OPW between €106.92 and €12.24 per carcass, records show.
The OPW is expected to carry out at least two further culls next month as part of its efforts to control the population of deer in the Phoenix Park.
Culls typically take place in the Fifteen Acres field towards the south of the park, where the herd of around 550 deer regularly grazes, according to the OPW’s safe operating procedures manual.
Male deer also tend to gather near the football and hurling grounds, and culls can sometimes take place there, the document states.
After the animals are shot, their carcasses are eviscerated in a yard located at the deer keeper’s lodge in the park, which involves the removal of their entrails. “The guts and unwanted parts are kept in bins for same-day collection if at all possible by an animal rendering company,” according to OPW documents.
Earlier this year, the Irish Mirror revealed that hundreds of deer that had been killed in road-traffic collisions or “humanely dispatched” in the area had been buried in a mass grave in the Phoenix Park.
The controversy raised concerns that the huge burial pit could result in the contamination of groundwater close to housing across the road from the site, and the OPW ended the practice of disposing of deer carcasses in this manner.
A spokesperson for the OPW said the agency takes the welfare of the deer in the Phoenix Park “very seriously”.
“The deer population in the park is actively managed to keep the herd at a sustainable size,” they explained.
“If there is no population management, the deer will overgraze and food sources will become scarce, leading to welfare issues such as low body fat, malnutrition, and high incidences of death from exposure during cold winters.”
They added that an increase in the fallow deer population would also lead to a build-up of parasites and other pathogens, causing disease to spread rapidly.
“A lack of population control can also have a detrimental effect on the other flora and fauna in the park. Therefore, it is necessary to control the population through culling a number of deer yearly to maintain the wild herd at a sustainable size,” they said.
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