Photo: Michael Rosney
As the deer population grows out of all control in Kerry, leading to several road collisions, senior Kerry County Council officials have confirmed that a road safety plan is being formulated in a determined attempt to tackle the problem.
The proposals, in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture and University College Cork, involve two separate pilot schemes – one relating to a detection and alert system and another to a deterrent system.
The council said the trial of the detection system is expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks, subject to GDPR approval, while the deterrent system is being run as a pilot scheme, led by Kerry County Council in conjunction with the department and UCC.
The latter will be trialled at two locations – Ballydowney in Killarney and the R569 road from Kenmare to Killarney via Kilgarvan – over the coming months
The scheme, which can detect movement of deer and approaching vehicles and generate an alert in a bid to avoid collisions, is proving very successful in Austria and something similar is deterring birds from congregating at airports.
At a meeting of Killarney Municipal District Council, Cllr John O’Donoghue told of another very serious accident involving a deer and it resulted in a neighbour of his having to be airlifted to hospital.
“The problem is not improving and it is getting worse. No one is accepting responsibility for the deer which is a large part of the problem,” he said.
“They are large animals so collisions will cause huge damage. This situation is reaching crisis point and is not satisfactory from either a human safety perspective or an animal welfare perspective,” Cllr O’Donoghue stated.
He said collisions with deer are resulting in motorists sometimes experiencing life-changing injuries and the unfortunate animals are being maimed and killed on the roadsides.
Cllr O’Donoghue said he was aware of a company using sensors that would detect when a large animal like a deer was approaching a roadway and would use a light or noise to deter the deer from crossing.
“I realise cost is a huge factor around any solutions as, unfortunately, the relevant minister won’t provide Kerry County Council with funding to put a solution in place,” he said.
Cllr Marie Moloney said the deer population has expanded in many rural areas outside of the national park and more signage needs to be erected on roads to warn drivers.
She told of one driver on his way home from Cork Airport, travelling over the county bounds at night, who hit a deer that was left injured at the side of the road.
She said the driver contacted the Gardai and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to inform them but when they returned to the scene the next morning the deer was sill lying injured on the side of the road.
“There were children on their way to school the following day that could have seen it. There needs to be a vet on call if there is an animal dying on the side of the road,” she said.
Cllr Moloney added there is a need to know just how big the deer population is, how many have been culled and how many will be culled.
“It is now out of control,” she stressed.
The council agreed to a request from Cllr Moloney to erect more signage from Coolcorcoran to Kilcummin village and onwards to Rathanane past the graveyard.
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