A deer cull has been carried out in the Phoenix Park.

A total of 34 animals were killed by park rangers today. The Office of Public Works (OPW) ordered the cull in an attempt to control the deer population in the park. The animals were shot with"full regard" for the welfare of the deer and the safety of staff and the public, according to the OPW. Their carcasses have been sold to a game dealer. The OPW said that it has to balance population growth with concerns for conservation and other species in the park "An over-abundant deer population can result in an increasing incidence of road traffic accidents and increase the potential role of deer in the epidemiology of specific diseases." An animal rights group has criticised the cull and accused the state of deliberately raising and killing the deer to make money. The Alliance for Animal Rights (AFAR) said that contraception would work on the deer but that culls are more lucrative. "No animal is safe if money is to be made," an AFAR spokeswoman told Independent.ie. "Shooting deer in view of other deer is barbaric, all animals experience fear at seeing their friends killed." The herd, numbered at between 400 and 450, is descended from deer that were introduced there in the 1660s.