Clause 6 - Deer
Hunting Bill
2:30 pm
Mr Edward Garnier (Harborough, Conservative)
I was talking about the possible need for wider gun ownership and wider use of firearms in areas of the west country where the red deer population is highest. If the path that I have outlined were chosen, how will the near extinction of a genetically diverse and truly wild red deer herd be avoided? That arises from the suggestions made by my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton at the end of last week about the change from the understanding that the deer herd was communally owned. If deer hunting were banned, people might consider that the commercial worth of the beasts was worth exploiting and they might want to kill them to stop them grazing down their pastures.
My contact, who owns the Porlock estate, asked how the balance between grazing resources and deer distribution would be found and how the risks of injury would be avoided. How will public safety and security issues be balanced with the need to maintain sustainable horticulture and farming environment? Will grants be available for fencing to prevent the unwelcome movement of deer across particular parts of the country? How will the strong genetic diversity of Exmoor red deer best be conserved? How will natural selection be preserved if the use of guns for the control
of red deer numbers is carried out without sufficient understanding of all the varied qualities of the wild red deer necessary for the successful breeding of those deer in a busy holiday landscape? Is it true that shooting of red deer has escalated recently on Exmoor, particularly on land owned by the National Trust? I know that my hon. Friend the Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray) referred to that and I believe that he also referred to land owned by the League Against Cruel Sports.