Red deer cull.

Part two.

Red deer's are monitored across the highlands by Scottish natural heritage. Red deer are normally in herds of between forty and sixty. This is then looked at to see what effect the deer have on the landscape. Because of these herds, the treeless landscapes are under stress as a result. On the lower slopes of the highlands, their are dying remnants of the old caledonian forest. For many years , the older trees have not been able to establish a younger crop below them. This is because the young pine sapling are being eaten by the red deer, they are a great food source for the red deer. Some of the highland estates have put in a management programme to protect the saplings, reducing the impact the red deer has on the saplings. In some areas, woodland is much more dense, there are so many more trees. Most importantly there is clear evidence of the young trees coming up through the vegetation. From a great height its easy to see that high numbers of red deer result in grazed and barren moors. Where there are low numbers of deer, rare caledonian pines are making a come back.