New research on supporting natural recovery through collaborative deer management at Affric Highlands

A collaborative approach

The study is Re-wild highlands and Durham Universityand further support Deer Management Group Association. The study aims to support land managers to make informed decisions on how best to manage deer population density while effectively restoring Scotland’s natural landscape.

The initiative will provide vital information to various networks of landowners Restoring wild landscapes in the highlandslearn more about how red deer interacts with a range of habitats, including native woodland and peatlands.

“Red deer is an important part of the Scottish Highland landscape and rural economies, but the increase in population has led to the challenge of balancing ecological health, biodiversity and land management goals,” said Nicola Williamson, a field officer at Affric Highlands.

“Strengthening our understanding of how these iconic and ecologically important animals move across estates and habitats is key to restoring ecosystems and improving deer health. This in turn supports rural economies and livelihoods through skilled deer management as well as sustainable deer sports and nature-based tourism.”

Innovation Research

As Scotland’s largest terrestrial mammal, the Red Deer is a cornerstone species that plays a crucial role in natural processes. These mysterious herbivores shape the landscape through herding grasses and sedges, browsing the buds and shrubs of trees, and turn the soil through trampling and getting stuck. However, without local predators such as wolf and bobcats to manage their numbers, soaring red deer populations have become a major obstacle to large-scale natural regeneration in local woodlands. In some areas, the deer density exceeds 40 animals per square kilometer.

GPS-Radio collar to be mounted on 22 male red deer Southwest Ross Deer Management Group area. There have been 12 deer collars so far, with another 10 deer later this year. Six GPS-Radio ear numbers were also deployed to provide data on the deer movements and intend to tag more calves next spring.

“With this innovative study, we will track and map the Red Deer movement to assess its seasonal migration, the size of the house's scope, and responses to human activities such as fencing and phase-out,” said Dr. Eilidh Smith, one of the researchers at Durham University.

“We will also conduct habitat surveys in areas where GPS data shows deer have been foraging or sheltering, analyzing their environmental impacts.”

Share valuable knowledge

The partnership is designed to encourage a collaborative approach to people with different land management practices, such as private heritage and conservation organizations. So far, deer managers from 14 Scottish estates have gained valuable knowledge of deer behavior and habitat use, which has been built on the site for decades of experience.

Although deer management is a controversial topic in Scotland, collecting scientific data and ensuring that key stakeholders can use the actual management of the species, can also improve deer welfare. In turn, natural recovery will be improved on the landscape scale by reducing grazing and browsing pressure.

“As part of this important conservation effort, we have been involved in the Red Deer Collar Project with Nicola and Eilidh. We have worked together to find, track and fit GPS collars on deer. This will provide important data for deer habitat use and movement patterns, which I know is the manager of a lot of deer managers.”

Many land managers in the Scottish Highlands are now working to achieve more sustainable deer numbers, supported by the Deer Management Group Association. The data collected during this research project will support an evidence-based approach. Rewilding Affric Highlands is working to provide additional funding for this inspiring program to provide and deploy more GPS-Radio collars and process data used by land managers.

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