Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to manage the risk posed by sika deer to red deer.

Deer management is a devolved matter and this answer therefore relates to England only.

The Government recognises that sika deer present a threat to native red deer, largely because of the potential for hybridisation. Sika deer occur in localised areas within the North and the South of England with smaller isolated wild populations elsewhere. Studies have shown there has been minimal large-scale hybridisation among populations in the South of England but there is greater evidence of this occurring in the North.

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act it is an offence to release Sika deer or its hybrid or allow it to escape into the wild. The responsibility for deer management lies with individual landowners. Where deer are causing damage or pose a health and safety risk, landowners are recommended to participate in local management groups, or to set one up where a group does not already exist. These groups bring together those with interests in a local area, for example residents, land managers, and conservation groups. Where necessary, action can involve a managed cull to reduce population densities. On the Public Forest Estate deer are managed by Forestry England for example to prevent their range from increasing.