Hobby hunting is not the solution for forest conversion

Because they often cannot find anything else to eat, roe deer nibble on trees in the forest.

Editorial team Wild beim Wild — 15 December 2021

In doing so, they destroy a not insignificant portion of the young trees that are important for forest conversion.

Some are now calling for the roe deer to be shot. But this does not have to be the solution.

Hunting drives roe deer into the forest

Ilse Stroch, head of the Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Wildlife Management at the University of Freiburg, explains that hobby hunters are frequently present in forests, causing roe deer to hide. “Where roe deer and red deer are very shy due to heavy hunting pressure, they avoid areas with little cover, even if these offer good food. They then remain in the forest, where there is little to eat besides young trees”, Ilse Stroch describes the actual problem.

The researcher’s argument suggests that it is not roe deer that are hindering the necessary conversion of forests through their feeding behaviour. “The real problem is humans”, summarises Deutschlandfunk Nova reporter Vanessa Reske.

Less hunting, more tranquillity

One solution, however, would be to change the behaviour of wildlife. To do so, one would need to rethink the approach and hunt less rather than more. At the same time, roe deer would need alternative food sources and protected spaces. Roe deer also like to feed in clearings in the forest. If they feel undisturbed there, they may not even get the idea — or far less frequently — to feed on trees. Wildlife biologists therefore call for reducing hobby hunting and establishing wildlife quiet zones.