Lockdown sees East Yorkshire deer numbers 'spiral out of hand'

Linda Bass from the Cleethorpes Wildlife Trust says she is not in favour of culling deer

An East Yorkshire gamekeeper says deer numbers have "spiralled out of hand" due to the Covid pandemic.

According to figures from the Deer Initiative, there are an estimated 2m deer in the UK, the highest number for 1,000 years.

Mr Robson said that landowners who had contacted him said they had seen a 15% rise in deer over the last two years.

He said the animals can damage crops and woodland, as well causing road traffic accidents.

"The main reason is lockdown," Mr Robson said.

"Not so many getting run over on the roads. Leisure stalkers not being able to cull for sport and cull for the table. They were just not able to travel."

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs estimate that deer cause £4.3m worth of damage to crops every year.

More than 74,000 deer are involved in collisions with vehicles each year, killing between 10 and 20 people and injuring more than 700, according to the RSPCA.

Earlier this month, North Yorkshire Police warned drivers to be on the lookout for deer after 10 of the animals were killed in crashes on the county's roads.

Despite the record rise in numbers not everybody is in favour of culling.

Linda Bass from the Cleethorpes Wildlife Trust has cared for a number of injured deer.

"We are getting a lot of deer trapped in schools," she said.

"We think when lockdown was on there were no children in school and they were all nice and quiet and the deer found their greens lovely.

"I just don't believe in culling. I think nature will sort everything out. I mean they're all on a food chain aren't they."