PART I: BACKGROUND
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Agriculture & sport
Forestry
Objective counts
Deer (Scotland) Act 1959
Red Deer commission
Deer Management Groups
Natural heritage
Legislative review
RED DEER AS A RESOURCE
Ecological context
Population decline & range contraction
Population increase & range expansion
European context
Self-regulation
Culling
Carrying capacity and performance
Red deer as part of upland ecosystems: open habitats
Red deer as part of upland ecosystems: woodland habitats
Red deer as a source of carrion
Aesthetic context
Sporting context
Deer drives
Evolution of stalking
Commercial significance: stalking
Commercial significance: venison
Close seasons
Employment
Stalking procedure
Selective shooting: stages
Selective shooting: hinds
Threats to the red deer resource
Genetic isolation
Introductions
Sika deer
Loss of red deer wintering habitat
Interactions with sheep
Over-population?
RED DEER AS A SOURCE OF CONFLICT
Agriculture
Legislation
Agricultural protection cull
Economic impact of marauding
Marauding by stags
Forestry
Loss of wintering ground versus establishment of resident woodland red deer populations
Economic impact
Forestry protection cull
Forest design & rotations
Sika expansion
Natural heritage
Red deer as agents of habitat change
Native woodlands
Heather moorland & montane habitats
Adverse effects on other animals
Soil erosion
Estate management: red deer
Muirburn
Supplementary feeding
Fertilised grasslands
Fencing
Consequences of traditional estate management
Estate management: red grouse
FUTURE RED DEER POPULATIONS
Concerns
Loss of revenue due to the 'vacuum effect'
Loss of heather moorland
Loss of employment
Capita values & loss of stalking
Deer performances
PART II - POLICIES
Introduction
The red deer resource
Population reduction
Management Plans
Habitat change: relative roles of sheep and deer
Woodland regeneration
Conventional management
Revision of Red Deer Management Handbook
Demonstration projects
Education and training
Standardised recording of the cull
Role of Deer Management Groups
Deer counts
Legislation
Fencing
Culling methods
Carcass extraction
Supplementary feeding
Hybridisation
Funding
Accreditation scheme
National Nature Reserve
Grazing pressures in the uplands
SUMMARY
REFERENCES