Ireland’s deer population is “out of control” because of the lack of wolves, an eminent environmentalist has said. 

Wolves once roamed freely across Ireland but were hunted to extinction in the 18th century. 

In the more than two centuries since then, no efforts have been made to reintroduce them but many scientists insist that the environment is still suffering from their absence. 

“In any ecosystem, there are so many species and they’re all interdependent,” Anja Murray, author of Wild Embrace: Connecting to the Wonder of Ireland's Natural World told Moncrieff. 

“Each feeds on each other and changes the environment to make it more hospitable to all the other species. 

“So, there’s this interdependency that we all learn about in school.” 

A Red Deer at Killarney National Park in County Kerry. Picture by: Robertharding / Alamy

Last year, 78,000 deer were culled in Ireland. 

While that might seem cruel to some, according to the Deer Alliance, if the deer population is not culled, it would increase by 25% every single year. 

The reason for this astronomical jump in population is explained by the absence of wild apex predators - such as the wolf. 

“Things like wolves predate on deer and other grazers - they also keep them moving more,” Ms Murray said. 

“So, now that we have no more wolves, they were persecuted to extinction, they were shot and all the woodlands were cleared. 

“The consequence now is that our deer populations are out of control. 

“Those deer nibble little tree saplings into nonexistence - so, we don’t get any natural regeneration of our trees and our woodlands.” 

Woodland in County Meath. Picture by: Alamy.com.

The impact of such a large deer population has also contributed to deforestation in Ireland. 

Once an estimated 80% of Ireland was covered in native woodland; however, that figure has fallen to less than 2%. 

“Overgrazing is a massive problem and that means that all those little plants that would grow on a woodland floor, the understory species that become the next generation of trees in the woodland, they no longer exist,” Ms Murray. 

“Because we don’t have the wolves, because the next layer down on the food chain is the deer and their population is exploding. 

“So, there’s knock on impacts for butterflies, for wild bees, for small flowers - for everything else. 

“Just because we’ve moved these top predators from woodland habitats in Ireland.” 

In opposition, former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan called for the reintroduction of wolves but did not pursue the idea in Government. 

Main image: Wolves eating a deer in Germany. Picture by: Alamy.com.