Restaurants in one country are serving customers a unique alternative meat option as an answer to deer overpopulation: venison. 

Scotland has a deer problem. Because of a lack of predators such as wolves — which are extinct in the nation — Scotland now has a deer population that is double what it was in 1990, at just over 1 million. 

This is an issue because deer eat shrubs and plants, making it easy for them to overgraze a forest or even remove native plants, leaving room for invasive species that can quickly take over. 

A study has even found that heavy browsing by red deer in Scotland has hindered the natural regeneration of the native Caledonian pinewoods in the Highlands, which are highly endangered. 

Scotland permits the annual culling of deer to deal with this problem, but eating them is a new method. While not the same as beef, venison is often compared to it or used as a substitute because of its similar rich and savory flavor, and scientists even think it is more sustainable long-term. 

"There's a fundamental [carbon] accounting question: Wild deer would exist and produce methane regardless of whether they're culled for venison — so should it count?" the University of Edinburgh's Christopher Hirst said in a statement. 

Hirst authored a 2021 report on wild deer and carbon sequestration in Scotland that concluded that reducing deer density could help cut carbon pollution nationwide. 

A report by the Scottish Venison Association found that producing 100 grams of protein from wild venison generates about 11.9 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent. While that is more than chicken and pork create, most of it comes from methane produced by the deer themselves, making venison all the more sustainable. 

"Encouraging wild game consumption will satisfy many people's meat desires, but in a more sustainable way," said Matthew Moran, a professor of biology at Hendrix College in Arkansas who co-authored a 2020 study on the carbon savings of wild game harvests in the United States.

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