Broad support for lethal control of wild deer among subscribers of nature organisations in England and Wales
7 affiliations
- 1School of Environmental and Natural Sciences Bangor University Bangor UK
- 2School of Biological Sciences University of Reading Reading UK
- 3School of Mathematics and Statistics Victoria University of Wellington Wellington New Zealand
- 4School of Geography and Environmental Science University of Southampton Southampton UK
- 5Woodland Trust Grantham UK
- 6Sylva Foundation Sylva Wood Centre Long Wittenham Oxon UK
- 7School of Biology University of Leeds Leeds UK
Abstract
Wild deer populations are increasing across the northern hemisphere, posing challenges to the environment and people. Deer impacts can be managed using lethal and non‐lethal practices, but research suggests lethal control receives mixed support. Differences in perspectives towards management practices may hinder collaborative, landscape‐scale strategies required to achieve resilient ecosystems and tree cover targets. Thus, understanding human‐deer relationships is crucial for sustainable deer management. To investigate perceptions towards deer and their management in England and Wales, we designed a questionnaire measuring the level of support for different actions to manage deer impacts and beliefs regarding the aesthetic and existence, environmental, economic and cultural‐symbolic value of deer. Targeting actors within and outside the land management, the questionnaire was distributed to subscribers of five national organisations, three focussing on wildlife management and two on woodland management. We collected data from 3936 people and, using cluster analysis, characterised groups of respondents based on their beliefs towards deer. We assessed variations between groups by socio‐demographic characteristics and support for lethal and non‐lethal management practices. Lethal control was the most supported and most used deer management practice, followed by tree guards and deer fencing. Our cluster analysis grouped respondents into 4 clusters. The cluster composed predominantly of deer stalkers (47%) held the most positive perceptions of deer and registered the highest support for lethal control and the highest opposition to deer fencing. Conversely, the cluster with the highest proportion of farmers (27%) and lowest proportion of stalkers (16%) expressed more neutral and negative opinions towards deer. There was no evidence of column clusters, indicating that beliefs did not cluster according to value dimensions (e.g. economic, environmental), suggesting that deer were valued similarly across all value dimensions. Differing opinions on deer and land management goals make it difficult for neighbours to collaborate on managing deer. Lethal control received strong support, which could ease concerns about recommending its use by nature organisations and decision‐makers who depend on public backing. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Related
- Lethal Vespa tropica Sting: Clinical Presentation, Autopsy Findings, and Histopathological Observations: A Case Report
- LplA-mediated rescue of lethal myopathy and cardiomyopathy in mitochondrial lipoylation-deficient mammalian caused by Lipt1
- The Membrane Stress Response Buffers Lethal Effects of Lipid Disequilibrium by Reprogramming the Protein Homeostasis Network
- The Spleen Provides a Niche for Neutrophil Training to Protect against Lethal Systemic Candidiasis
- Combination of enhanced gene activation and cell death causes lethal inflammatory pulmonary fibrosis
BibTeX
@article{cini2026broad,
title = {{Broad support for lethal control of wild deer among subscribers of nature organisations in England and Wales}},
author = {Elena Cini and Rebecca Spake and Louise McMillan and Amy Gresham and Graeme Shannon and Felix Eigenbrod and Christopher P. Nichols and Paul Orsi and Alastair I. Ward and Freya A. V. St John},
journal = {People and Nature},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1002/pan3.70193},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70193},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Broad support for lethal control of wild deer among subscribers of nature organisations in England and Wales
AU - Elena Cini
AU - Rebecca Spake
AU - Louise McMillan
AU - Amy Gresham
AU - Graeme Shannon
AU - Felix Eigenbrod
AU - Christopher P. Nichols
AU - Paul Orsi
AU - Alastair I. Ward
AU - Freya A. V. St John
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
JO - People and Nature
DO - 10.1002/pan3.70193
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70193
AB - Wild deer populations are increasing across the northern hemisphere, posing challenges to the environment and people. Deer impacts can be managed using lethal and non‐lethal practices, but research suggests lethal control receives mixed support. Differences in perspectives towards management practices may hinder collaborative, landscape‐scale strategies required to achieve resilient ecosystems and tree cover targets. Thus, understanding human‐deer relationships is crucial for sustainable deer management. To investigate perceptions towards deer and their management in England and Wales, we designed a questionnaire measuring the level of support for different actions to manage deer impacts and beliefs regarding the aesthetic and existence, environmental, economic and cultural‐symbolic value of deer. Targeting actors within and outside the land management, the questionnaire was distributed to subscribers of five national organisations, three focussing on wildlife management and two on woodland management. We collected data from 3936 people and, using cluster analysis, characterised groups of respondents based on their beliefs towards deer. We assessed variations between groups by socio‐demographic characteristics and support for lethal and non‐lethal management practices. Lethal control was the most supported and most used deer management practice, followed by tree guards and deer fencing. Our cluster analysis grouped respondents into 4 clusters. The cluster composed predominantly of deer stalkers (47%) held the most positive perceptions of deer and registered the highest support for lethal control and the highest opposition to deer fencing. Conversely, the cluster with the highest proportion of farmers (27%) and lowest proportion of stalkers (16%) expressed more neutral and negative opinions towards deer. There was no evidence of column clusters, indicating that beliefs did not cluster according to value dimensions (e.g. economic, environmental), suggesting that deer were valued similarly across all value dimensions. Differing opinions on deer and land management goals make it difficult for neighbours to collaborate on managing deer. Lethal control received strong support, which could ease concerns about recommending its use by nature organisations and decision‐makers who depend on public backing. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
SN - 2575-8314
ER -