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Costing the Earth

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

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Costing the Earth: Bambi Bites Back

Bambi Bites Back

14/02/2012

BBC Radio 4 - Costing the Earth, Bambi Bites Back

Deer numbers are rising fast. Tom Heap asks what this means for the rural landscape.

Bambi has never had it so good. British deer numbers are rising, taking a heavy toll on forestry and ground-nesting birds. Tom Heap asks if we need to cull our largest mammals.

Bambi has never had it so good. Changes in farming fashion now provide deer with delicious things to eat and warm places to sleep all winter long. The result is a big increase in numbers and a rapid geographical spread, taking our native and introduced species into the most urbanised parts of our islands.

In 'Costing the Earth' Tom Heap investigates the causes of the deer boom and some of the unexpected impacts. Deer take a heavy toll on young trees, enraging foresters and ruining the prospects for ground-nesting birds like nightingales. They're also meeting increasingly grisly ends, killed by on-coming cars or targeted by poachers armed with crossbows or air guns.

So should we wring our hands or celebrate the success of our largest land mammals? Should we cull and control or aim to make a profit from nature's bounty? Tom joins a team of specialists from Scottish Natural Heritage for a late night deer count through urban Scotland and meets a stalker who is offering wealthy Germans the chance to bag a lowland stag. 

Producer: Alasdair Cross.

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