Almost 400 deer were culled in the Killarney National Park in 2025, figures released by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) reveal.
The majority of wild deer taken out in the 10,000-hectare park in Killarney were the introduced sika, but significant numbers of the much larger and native red deer were also included.
Wildlife rangers culled 116 red deer and 276 sika deer, the new figures state.
Wild deer in Killarney have expanded their range well beyond the national park and now number in their thousands, local representatives have said.
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Road collisions with deer are now a regular occurrence, Killarney councillor Brendan Cronin said in response to the figures. He called for “fencing, restriction and responsibility to be taken by the NPWS”.
“Deer are a huge road traffic issue now in Kerry and are jumping out on to the bonnets of cars,” he said. “They are in every direction, miles outside the national park.”
Wild deer were also causing crop damage, he added.
“Unlike farm animals, no one is held responsible when there is a collision with these huge animals and there is no comeback. This is totally wrong and needs to be addressed. The National Parks and Wildlife Service has to take responsibility for car accidents and damage,” Mr Cronin said.
The NPWS said it acknowledges there was an increase in deer numbers during Covid when hunting was restricted.
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The NPWS does not “own” the deer population, no more than it “owns” any species in the wild. Deer populations, by their nature, are mobile and have a home range that is not constrained by land ownership boundaries, a spokesman said.
A deer management strategy, set up under the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, aims to address issues of controlling the deer population, the NPWS said.
James Coffey, deer management unit co-ordinator for the Kerry and Cork region at Farm Relief Services, said practically the whole of Kerry is a problem area for deer, and the aim is to bring landowners together to deal with the issue for the long term.
He urged landowners to reach out to the Farm Relief Services and to seek assistance.
It is the first time in the history of the State that there is such a country-wide attempt to manage the deer population. A lot of areas now had high deer numbers, he said.
Wild deer in the State are protected under the Wildlife Acts. the NPWS said, with licences for hunting issued by the body.
An estimated 70,000 deer are culled under licence annually throughout Ireland.
