NEW DEER CULL STARTS NEXT WEEK
The second deer cull at Bushy Park will start at 00:01am on Monday 2 November and last for about 6 weeks.
During this period, the vehicle gates to the park will be locked at 7pm and the pedestrian gates at 10:30pm Sunday to Thursday.
All gates will be unlocked from 8am. All gates will be open as normal on Saturdays and Sundays.
A Royal Parks spokesperson said; “It’s important to understand that we only undertake humane culling for deer welfare reasons and not as a way to make money.
“Money raised from the sale of venison goes towards the cost of deer feed and the Wildlife Officers we employ to look after the deer.
“The Royal Parks make no profit from keeping herds of deer in Richmond and Bushy Parks.
“If the herd size was not managed food would become scarce, and more animals would ultimately suffer.
“Without population control there would be other welfare issues such as low body fat, malnutrition and high incidence of death from exposure to cold in winter.
“Attempting to maintain too many deer within a restricted park area would soon lead to a build-up of parasites and other pathogens causing disease in the deer.”
Bushy Park is home to over 320 red and fallow deer. Deer herds have played a major role in the park’s history and have shaped the landscape too.
Fallow deer have been roaming the landscape since Tudor times and the forebears of today’s red deer herd were introduced after the Second World War.