Public asked to stop feeding wild deer in Dublin's Phoenix Park

Visitors to Phoenix Park in Dublin are being urged to stop feeding the wild deer in a new initiative aimed at protecting the animals.

The Office of Public Works launched the 'Protect Our Park - Don't Feed The Deer' campaign in response to a recent report from University College Dublin (UCD) highlighting the detrimental impact of human feeding on the behavior and well-being of the park’s iconic deer population.

The park is home to approximately 600 wild fallow deer, which primarily subsist on a diet comprising 90% grass and occasionally other vegetation.

Although feeding the deer has always been prohibited by park officials, visitors to the park have increasingly been feeding the animals in recent years, largely spurred on by social media, reports RTÉ.

The UCD report revealed that the increased feeding by tourists and members of the public has significantly altered the health and natural behavior patterns of the deer, disrupting their natural foraging instincts and causing the deer to seek out human interaction. The deer's dependency on humans for food affects their health and how they interact with other deer.

Some of the key findings in the UCD report showed:

• Deer have been fed foods such as chocolate, crisps, fizzy drinks, bread and carrots.

• 25% of the park’s deer population now regularly approach people for food.

• Mothers accepting food from visitors tend to give birth to heavier fawns, continuing the cycle of dependency. Fawns of begging mothers are more likely to become begging individuals.

• Deer accepting artificial food items from visitors results in changes to their digestive system, with long-term effects on their ability to digest natural food.

• Male deer – who have been shown to receive much lower quality food items from the public (e.g. crisps, chocolate, biscuits etc) than females (carrots and salads) – tend to have smaller antlers and be less successful during the mating season.

• Male-female encounters are often disrupted by park visitors, which impacts the quality of males accessing females for reproduction. This leads to interference in sexual selection and female productivity.

• Deer in the Phoenix Park have tested positive for Covid-19, indicating that at some point humans passed this disease to them.

• Deer, when disturbed, form very tight groups and have increased stress levels.

The new campaign seeks to educate visitors to the park against feeding the deer by installing educational signage throughout the park. The signage will emphasize the importance of preserving the deer's natural behaviors and the potential hazards associated with feeding.

Failure to stop visitors from feeding the deer could have long-term ramifications including; increasing the risk of transmitting disease, increasing the risk of human injuries as deer seek out food from humans, and increasing stress to the deer with more unwanted human interactions.

Phoenix Park Superintendent Paul McDonnell. said: “The Phoenix Park is renowned for its rich biodiversity, with the majestic deer serving as a treasured emblem of our natural heritage. While the allure of these wild creatures is undeniable, it's imperative to recognise that they are precisely that – wild. Feeding them, far from being good for them, inflicts significant stress and harm. Human-deer interactions pose a substantial safety risk, not only to the animals but potentially to ourselves as well. The practice of feeding wild deer is perilous to their welfare and must cease immediately."

Park officials are urging visitors to keep a distance of at least 50 meters from the deer and not engage in behavior that poses risks to the deer or the visitor. This includes feeding and posing for selfies.

Mr. Kieran O’Donnell TD, Minister of State for the Office of Public Works, said:

“By keeping our distance from the deer and refraining from feeding them, visitors can play a pivotal role in safeguarding the future of these magnificent creatures, who have called the Phoenix Park home for over 350 years. Feeding disrupts the delicate ecological balance and could ultimately jeopardise the deer population’s existence in the park. Dubliners take immense pride in the Phoenix Park and it is a wonderful place to visit for locals and tourists. I am asking all visitors to help us stamp this out and keep these iconic deer safe in their natural home.”

For further information on the ‘Protect Our Park – Don’t Feed the Deer’ campaign and ways to support conservation efforts in Phoenix Park, please visit Phoenix Park.