In the absence of native large carnivores, Scotland's deer populations have steadily expanded for decades as disease, starvation, road kills, and stalking (shooting) have failed to keep numbers in check. This conflict centers mostly around red deer ( Cervus elaphus), Scotland's most ecologically, economically, and culturally important deer species, but also concerns roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus) ( MacMillan and Phillip, 2010 Pepper et al., 2019). Scotland's thriving wild deer populations, like those elsewhere in Europe and North America, are at the center of a persistent conservation conflict. In the short-term, achieving sustainable numbers of deer in Scotland will require a substantial increase in the number of deer culled and effective changes to the way deer management is incentivized, regulated, implemented, and monitored. However, evidence of lynx impacts on deer numbers, deer impacts, and social conflicts over deer suggest lynx reintroduction alone would not effectively reduce negative impacts of deer in Scotland, though it could be part of a broader solution. Reintroducing Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx) has been suggested as a means to reduce deer numbers and their negative ecological and socioeconomic impacts. Systematic monitoring of deer impacts will also be needed to evaluate the ability of specific management interventions to achieve defined objectives. Overcoming this governance failure will require clearly articulated, scientifically valid, and socially acceptable socio-ecological objectives to be co-produced by a broad range of stakeholders. While some environmental groups urgently call for an increase in the number of deer culled (shot) each year, other stakeholders aim to maximize deer numbers. Conflicting interests and incentives among people involved in deer management mean a common definition of success, and therefore clear management targets, remain elusive. But to others, negative impacts such as damage to woodlands and peatlands, agricultural and forestry losses, deer-vehicle collisions, and facilitating Lyme disease spread represent failure. What would successful deer management look like in Scotland? To some, flourishing populations of native wild deer represent success. 6National Trust for Scotland, Mar Lodge Estate, Braemar, United Kingdom.5Department of Forestry, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.4The John Muir Trust, Pitlochry, United Kingdom.3Center for Conservation Social Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States.2Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States.1Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom. ![]() Hannah Kirkland 1 *, Darragh Hare 1,2,3, Mike Daniels 4, Miha Krofel 5, Shaila Rao 6, Tatiana Chapman 1 and Bernd Blossey 2
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