The sickening sight of mutilated carcasses piled in a field following the helicopter herded slaughter of 600 deer at Glenfeshie Estate in Scotland is representative of current conservation fascist principles where it is no longer enough to plant trees or protect rare species without cruelly butchering wildlife that is competing for the same habitat. This philosophy, driven by political dogma and a desire for a national environmental identity, is only one short step away from the intolerant fanaticism of those who perpetrate ethnic cleansing against human populations.

Conservation has now become synonymous with extremism and it is time the public condemned such cruelty by withdrawing support from the uncharitable charities that advocate and encourage such barbarity. So which charities advocate and encourage this killing and which should you consider boycotting? The following paragraph was part of a letter sent some time ago to Ross Finnie, MSP, Minister for the Environment and Rural Development: “We point out to the Minister that populations of deer in Scotland are at record levels and, according to the Deer Commission, red deer numbers are still increasing in most areas.

The impact on the natural environment of the current high populations has been a major concern for many years with repeated requests from environmental organisations and others for higher culls and population reductions. A major drop in deer culls in the coming season would result in a further sharp rise in populations.” Conservationists would have us believe that it is necessary to reduce deer numbers to an acceptable population level that doesn’t cause ecological damage.

When asked why the population has increased so rapidly, they tell us that deer reproduce prolifically and that there are no large predators, namely the wolf, left to control their numbers. On the face of it, that seems a reasonable explanation but it is more of a plausible excuse for hunters to enjoy their grizzly fun and conservationists to employ them to hunt in almost exactly the same way under the more respectable guise of culling.

There is no doubt that wolves were predators of deer, but not for a very long time. The last wolf was killed in the UK around 1750, more than 250 years ago, and their numbers were in serious decline for many decades before that. So it is reasonable to assume that wolves have had little impact on deer for the past 300 – 350 years. With that in mind one could be excused for thinking that deer numbers would have escalated at an enormous rate over that period. But it is only in the last 50-60 years that their numbers have increased significantly, coinciding with a thriving hunting industry and reforestation that provides shelter.

So is there a connection? Of course there is! To understand the whole sorry mess, one must examine the structure and covert allegiances between hunters and conservationists that form alliances within “deer management groups” that are overseen by the Deer Commission to maintain an artificially high deer population to satisfy the requirements of hunting estates. But as deer know no boundaries, the population expands to other areas unchecked, where they can damage unprotected saplings, ground flora and ground nesting habitats. This is when the deceit of the conservationists comes to the fore.

Having supped with the hunters, they now tell us they need to cull deer to reduce the increase in population that the hunters were responsible for in the first place. The horrid cycle continues year after year. Why don’t the conservationists abandon their hunting cronies and oppose the real reason for the deer population increase? Not a chance – it’s all about money. The government via the Deer Commission wishes to maintain the hunting industry for tourism income and the conservationists depend on government grants via the Forestry Authority to plant their trees etc.