Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The Muntjac in Northern Ireland

Apparently the first sighting of a Muntjac in the wild was announced last Monday. A young male was spotted in County Down in June 2009. It was knocked down by a car in the Carrowdore area.

The Environment Agency believes Muntjac are such a menace it has asked for anyone who spots them to report it immediately. Under the Agency's exclusion strategy and action plan for Muntjac deer the recommended course of action is to eradicate them.

An agency statement said:

A Muntjac Deer Action Plan was prepared by NIEA some years ago which identifies a number of actions to be initiated if a wild population is discovered. This plan has now been activated in an attempt to halt the spread of the species.


The agency has also said anyone who releases or allows the deer to escape into Northern Ireland faces prosecution under the the Wildlife Order (NI) 1985.

There have subsequently been confirmed sightings in County Wicklow and unconfirmed reports from locations across Northern Ireland.

In England Muntjac were introduced into a park in Bedfordshire in the early 20th century and either escaped or were deliberately released. They are fairly widespread now.

Unlike most deer Muntjac don't live in herds but are solitary or found in pairs.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8iXzlvaiGg

The Squirrel and the Deer went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat: They took some honey, and plenty of money. Wrapped up in a five-pound note. And lived happily ever after.

oldcrow61 said...

There's no hope for human beings at all. I sometimes wish that all the creatures could do what anonymous said.

ShySongbird said...

OC has said it perfectly!

Jan said...

Guranteed to piss me off as usual. Yeah, let's kill all the animals because after all, what good are they, except deliberately running out in front of cars to get run over? Grrr makes my blood boil. We had muntjacs around when I lived in Stevenage in the park and woods about 100 yards from my house. They were such a menace you know, I was soooo scared of them attacking me.

Anonymous said...

They are a non-native deer species from china / taiwan that damages our native woodlands, crops and rare woodland species. No one should want them here!

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