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By Sean Moriarty

Public access will be restricted in certain parts of Killarney National Park on March 4 and March 11 to allow deer culling.

The National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) will be carrying out a limited, day-time cull of deer in the vicinity of Knockreer Park.

As part of this exercise it will be necessary to temporarily restrict public access to certain areas of the Park between 6.30am and 11.30am on each of these days.

Knockreer Demesne, Knockreer, Reen, Prospect, Ballydowney and Belleview will be closed to all public access during these operations.

“For reasons of public safety, it is important that there is no pedestrian, cyclist, vehicular or horse-drawn carriage access to these sites and we ask that members of the public heed all warnings signs,” a spokesperson for the NPWS said.

The first cull carried out by NPWS rangers took place on Wednesday of this week.

“On an on-going basis, as part of its regular management operations, the NPWS carries out highly managed culls of deer within the National Park when required. In addition to regular population management, this particular cull is being carried during day-light hours to facilitate some further investigation into incidence of copper deficiency in the herd,” added the spokesperson.

Killarney enjoys a love-hate relationship with Ireland’s oldest mammal.

Deer are an important part of the tourist experience but growing numbers have led to calls for culls as deer frequently wander into the town centre and they have been blamed for several road traffic accidents – some fatal – in recent years.

The local deer population is estimated to be in the region of 1,500, including 1000 red deer and a further 500 sika.