The red deer viewed by Europeans: A challenge for management

Abstract

Red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) are distributed throughout Europe, and populations densities have increased over the last years. Lethal control is sometimes used to reduce their numbers, and their negative overabundance impacts on ecosystems. Understanding how society perceive this species, its impacts and its management is important because a potential opposition to control its population, may have negative implications for ecological conservation. To assess such societal perception on deer and their socioecological context, we surveyed 2,400 people from six European countries: Spain, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, and Sweden. Across Europe, almost everybody knew this species (>99%), mainly because they have seen it in the wild, in books, or on television. Although some differences existed among countries, Europeans generally attributed positive ecosystem services to the red deer, being the most frequently selected ones cultural (by 43%), regulation (35%) and provision (22%) services. Almost 90% of the interviewees liked red deer, 47% would like to see an increase in deer populations, and 49% were worried by the impact of human activities on this species. This study reveals a high appreciation of red deer by European society, and suggests that deer populations control may face social opposition