Could this pave the way for commercial hunting?
[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-right”]12th December, 2016[/cs_text][cs_text]US hunters have seemingly paid substantial sums of money for licences to shoot the highly-protected Killarney red deer in Killarney National Park in Co. Kerry.
This news comes after a stag was shot on October 7th near the National Park. The shooting is believed to have occurred on private land involving a US hunter who believed they were acting legally, after paying €5000 for a hunting permit. This permit had been issued to a local landowner, who then nominated a hunter to cull the stags. It is thought that this permit was then obtained by a commercial hunting company.
The shooting occurred out of season. Landowners are allowed apply for a section 42 licence to cull deer outside of hunting season if the deer are causing damage to their land. The Wild Deer Association of Ireland says that the landowner is then required to nominate a hunter from National Parks and Wildlife Service to carry out the shooting.
“What happened in this case appears to be that the hunter was a guide who was working with a commercial hunting company and in turn that permit was effectively sold on to an unknown American tourist who thought he was legitimately shooting a native stag,” explained WDAI spokesperson Damien Hannigan.
Park management was warned that a second Killarney red stag was being targeted in the following days. This stag is believed to have been shot at a later date.
The Kilarney red deer population are a unique genetic stock and the only red deer population native to Ireland. After coming close to extinction in the 1970’s their numbers have recovered. The other red deer herds found in modern Ireland were introduced.
The sale of these rare hunting permits to trophy hunters sets a dangerous precedent for the future. Worse, it encourages an image of Ireland as a place where bend the rules however you want- for the right fee. [/cs_text][x_author title=”About the Author” author_id=””][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]
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