Almost £5million has been raised for the public purse from venison sales following the shooting of deer on the national forest estate.
Around 26,000 high-quality deer carcases are sold on every year to meat dealers as a result of culls on Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) land, with a portion ending up on the Continent.
The demand for venison has proved to be a lucrative source of income for FCS, with the price charged for the meat going up 50% in three years.
Around 30,000 deer are now culled annually on the national forest estate to protect the land from overpopulation and damage to some 85million young trees growing at any one time.
The cull last year brought in £1.52million from venison sales, compared to £991,000 in 2009.
Christian Nissen, managing director of Highland Game, which has the contract to buy deer carcases from FCS, said business was booming, with markets starting to open up in Asia.
He said: “We buy a significant volume from the national forest estate.
“The greatest majority of red deer that are killed in this country are sold in the UK and the greatest proportion of roe deer, of which we take large numbers from the national forest estate, are exported.
Around 90,000 deer are culled in Scotland every year with approximately one-third killed on publicly-owned forest estate.
FCS spends around £1.5million every year on deer fencing to protect estate property – and the visiting public – with another £3.7million spent on meeting the costs of the cull.
This includes hiring professional contractors, record keeping, transportation costs and the running costs of the deer larders.
In addition, a further 3,500 deer are killed on the national estate by recreational stalkers, who keep the carcases.
FCS is responsible for around 9% of Scotland’s land area, with vast areas of the north and north-east under its protection.
An FCS spokesman said: “Income from venison sales represents a very small portion of our total revenue stream but nonetheless is very welcome in off-setting some of the considerable costs of sustainable deer management across the national forest estate.”
The estimated income from venison has risen as follows: 2009-10 – £991,000; 2010-11 – £1.186million; 2011-12 – £1.143million; 2012-13 – £1.525million.