Eat deer so we can reduce car crashes, says expert

Everyone should eat more venison, an expert has said, after a stag caused a crash between a car and a lorry in Suffolk.

David Hooton, a deer officer at the Forestry Commission, said a venison supply chain was needed to manage the growing numbers of wild deer and to help reduce car crashes.

A driver suffered minor injuries and the deer died following the collision on the A12 at Little Glemham near Woodbridge on Monday morning.

According to the AA, as many as 74,000 deer have been killed or injured in the space of a year in the UK.

Speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk, Hooton said the numbers, including muntjac and Chinese water deer, had increased in the county over the past three decades.

"Populations do need to be reduced," he said.

"We've got more deer than we've ever had before and the impacts economically and from a biodiversity [and] natural environment point of view are very high currently."

Hooton pointed out that traffic on the roads had increased, contributing to the increase in crashes.

The exact number of wild deer in the UK is not known, but the government estimates there are about two million.

Hooton believed if the population was not controlled, numbers could continue growing, the natural environment would suffer and disease among deer could spread.

He said that deer meat had good nutritional value.

"We need a venison supply chain that can utilise all those animals being managed to protect the environment," said Hooton.

"It's a product that is really sustainable, it's really good value in some areas, some people sometimes perceive it as a niche type product and it is, but the values shouldn't be over and above any other meat product you're buying."

The government announced in February that culling deer would be made easier in England with a 10-year plan to reduce the population.

But campaigners said culling was inhumane and not effective in the long term.

A spokeswoman for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said: "Removing deer from the landscape doesn't stop their numbers from rebounding, and, in many cases, a temporary reduction in population leaves more food available per animal, which can increase breeding rates in the survivors."

With the necessary licence and with the permission of the landowner, it is legal to shoot deer during the closed season.

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