Madam, - Seán MacConnell's recent account of his favourite Wicklow trek (The Irish Times, August 6th) captured much of the beauty of the landscape and related attractions of Luggala and environs. However, his references to deer are misleading.
Sika deer are frequently but erroneously - or at least unfairly - blamed for the demise of red deer in Wicklow. In fact, it is far more likely that blanket afforestation, over-grazing by sheep, absence of any long-term management plan or, in some cases, excessive or indiscriminate shooting have had a much more significant effect on red deer numbers than has hybridisation between sika and red deer.
Happily, however, there are many areas within the Wicklow mountains where red deer are thriving, almost untroubled by sika or by human interference. The development of the Wicklow Mountains National Park has undoubtedly been beneficial in this regard.
I would point out too that when Mr MacConnell describes as "native" red deer have not existed in Wicklow for some considerable time. The decline in "native" red deer outside Killarney can be tracked back several centuries, predating the arrival of sika deer at Powerscourt by a considerable time. Those red deer now found in Wicklow are mainly descendants of Scottish and English stock imported almost contemporaneously with the sika deer.
Meanwhile, sika are by now an established and in my view welcome addition to our fauna in Wicklow and elsewhere. - Yours, etc.,
LIAM M. NOLAN, Wicklow Deer Group, Tomdarragh, Co Wicklow.