Rural Affairs and Environment Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Official Report 583KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Muntjac Keeping (Scotland) Order 2011

Good morning. I welcome everyone to the committee’s fifth meeting in 2011. I remind everyone to switch off their mobile phones and brambles as they impact on the broadcasting system.

Our first item of business is consideration of an affirmative instrument. I welcome to the committee Richard Lochhead MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment; Angela Robinson, policy adviser on non-native species; and Andrew Crawley, from the Scottish Government legal directorate.

This item enables members to ask questions about the content of the order before we have a formal debate on it. Officials can contribute under this item but cannot participate in the debate. The Subordinate Legislation Committee has made no comment on the order. I invite the cabinet secretary to make a brief opening statement.

Good morning. I look forward to spending the next few hours with the committee. I am here to ask the committee to approve the Muntjac Keeping (Scotland) Order 2011. If approved, the order will have the effect that it is an offence to keep any type of muntjac deer except under a licence. The Muntjac Keeping (Scotland) Regulations 2011 set out the conditions necessary to prevent an animal from escaping into the wild.

As the committee will be well aware from its consideration of the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill, the Scottish Government’s approach to invasive non-native species is guided by the internationally recognised three-stage approach. Prevention is given the highest priority as the most effective and least environmentally damaging intervention. That approach can be seen in the improvements that are being progressed in the bill and through this order.

No known populations of muntjac are established in the wild in Scotland and we would like to maintain that situation. The aim of the order, together with the regulations, is to do precisely that. It will help to prevent muntjac from becoming established by requiring them to be kept only under licence in a secure place. The order will also enable ministers to use powers in the Destructive Imported Animals Act 1932 to deal with wild or escaped muntjac.

Muntjac deer are originally from Asia and are already an invasive non-native species in England and Wales. They are widespread in south and central England but have a patchy distribution between the Humber and the Scottish border.

Muntjac deer are destructive animals, or invasive species, to use the more modern term. They can have significant negative impacts in the wild on both biodiversity and economic interests. They browse on ground flora species, such as bluebells, that are not generally grazed by native herbivores and damage coppiced broad-leaved woodlands and crops.

Scottish Natural Heritage considers that, if muntjac were to be established in Scotland, they would pose a serious risk to the priority habitats of upland oak wood and mixed ash wood. In England and Wales, significant economic costs have resulted from damage caused to new forestry plantations, as well as to cereal and orchard crops. In addition, similar to other deer species, if muntjac stray on to roads, they can cause traffic accidents. This preventive order should ensure that muntjac do not cause negative economic and environmental impacts in Scotland.

I would like a bit of background information. The paper says that there are known populations of muntjac in Fife. Presumably they are in a wildlife park or something of that nature. Is there any reason to keep muntjac in Scotland?

That is the case. There are a couple of deer parks and so on in Fife that we understand contain the species.

On whether muntjac should be kept in Scotland, our approach is that, if they are to be kept in Scotland, they should be regulated and licensed. It is really up to the individual owners, but we want to ensure that we do not allow non-native species to interact with our wild populations in Scotland.

My feeling is that the extent of the licence fee may not be sufficient to discourage people from keeping muntjac.

As a Government and as a regulator, we are concerned first to ensure that we protect Scotland’s biodiversity and native species and prevent the other damage that I referred to in my opening remarks. Our approach is to ensure that there is proper regulation in place.

You cite bluebells as being part of the diet of the muntjac. The briefing note mentions it, too. However, bluebells are really only in evidence between April and June. What do they eat for the rest of the year?

I am not an expert on the diet of the muntjac deer.

Their diet is cited as a reason for not allowing them to breed, so I assumed that there were other things that they eat that are unacceptable.

Coppiced woodlands are affected. As I have mentioned, cereal crops and orchard crops are also under threat because of the feeding and foraging habits of the muntjac.

Apart from eating bluebells, they are really just the same as other deer.

As I mentioned, one of the reasons why muntjac are seen as such a nuisance is the damage that they have caused south of the border. We are learning from what has happened there, where the population has expanded. That is why SNH has advised us that the species is highly damaging.

A fairly high number of road accidents south of the border seem to be caused by muntjac. Is there something in the behaviour of muntjac that makes them more likely to be near roads?

That is certainly the anecdotal evidence from south of the border. As I am sure many people are aware, all deer pose some kind of threat to road traffic in Scotland, but there does seem to be something about the behaviour of this species that has led to the statistics you see before you.

Muntjac exist in high density and breed all year round so, where they do exist, there is a higher likelihood of road traffic accidents. Twenty-five per cent of accidents involving deer in England are put down to muntjac.

What is SNH’s equivalent south of the border doing to control the outbreak?

Shooting them, I expect. Measures are being taken south of the border but, because there is a sizeable population, it will be quite a task.

If there are no further questions, we move to the formal debate on the order. I remind everyone that officials cannot participate in the debate. I invite the cabinet secretary to move the motion.

It was brought to our attention during our consultation on the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill that we should promote action on this issue as soon as possible rather than waiting for the new legislative framework to be put in place, hence the order being introduced at this stage.

I move,

That the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee recommends that the Muntjac Keeping (Scotland) Order 2011 be approved.

Motion agreed to.

09:40

Meeting suspended.

09:42

On resuming—