It has emerged that US hunters have paid substantial sums of money for licences to shoot the highly-protected Killarney red deer in Killarney National Park in Co Kerry.
RTÉ reports that the Minister for Heritage and the Killarney National Park have discovered at least one instance where a deer was shot by a tourist claiming he had paid thousands of euro to a commercial company for the licence.
It is thought that a permit that was issued to a landowner under strict conditions was obtained by a commercial company.
The hunter said he paid €5,000 to a commercial company for the experience.
It is believed that the local landowner nominated a hunter to cull the deer but that the hunter was a guide for a commercial company.
The Wild Deer Association are calling it "the sale and abuse of our heritage,” and are calling for all culling licenses to be withdrawn.
In the early 70s, the numbers of Killarney deer had fallen to about 60 but after conservation efforts they exceeded 600.
"While we sympathise and regularly offer advice and support to landowners who suffer genuine deer-crop damage, nor do we object to the promotion of tourism from hunting or shooting, we strongly oppose such abuse of your heritage and protected wildlife species," said The Wild Deer Association.
