An average of 293 deer were culled each year in the borough’s royal parks in the past decade, figures revealed.
Richmond Park saw an average of 203.1 deer culled each year from 2004-14, while Bushy Park had an average of 90.1 culled in the same period.
A Royal Parks spokesman said regular, controlled culling was necessary because the parks only had enough grazing to sustain a finite number of healthy animals.
He said: "If the cull did not take place then deer would suffer as a result of overcrowding and malnutrition, leading to starvation and death."
The numbers of male and female deer culled each year varied, with an average of 136.8 male deer culled each year, and 156.4 females in the past 10 years. In 2009, 46 male deer were culled in Richmond Park while 115 females were destroyed.
A Royal Parks Spokesm
an explained the balance between sex and number of the deer varied every year.
He said: "Weather and food supply can affect the herds, especially the young and each year a number of deer are lost through natural mortality.
"Over a period of years we also take into consideration the age profile of deer and birth rates in assessing the size of the cull to achieve the optimum herd numbers."
Richmond Park Deer Culls 2004 - 2014
Year Male Female Total
2004 113 49 162
2005 91 139 230
2006 132 106 238
2007 125 117 242
2008 117 144 261
2009 46 115 161
2010 93 38 131
2011 78 22 100
2012 0 78 78
2013 78 145 223
2014 94 111 205
Bushy Park Deer Culls 2004-2014
Year Male Female Total
2004 60 65 125
2005 30 0 30
2006 44 45 89
2007 18 35 53
2008 55 25 80
2009 55 25 80
2010 20 45 65
2011 50 75 125
2012 6 55 61
2013 28 55 83
2014 35 75 110
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