A PROJECT aimed at improving the long term health of one of the most iconic species on Exmoor - the red deer - is seeking grant aid to get it off the ground.

The Exmoor and District Deer Management Society wants to build and develop a database of information relating to health and condition indicators in Exmoor deer.

It says the collation of information relating to culled deer from a wide number of deer managers would build into a resource that could offer a greater understanding of the health, condition and fecundity of the herd, providing a valuable early warning system of any potential problems.

The cost of the project has been put at £5,550 and the society is seeking almost 75 per cent - £4,100 - from the Exmoor National Park Authority's Partnership Fund.

But members of the authority's resources and performance committee's discretionary budget sub-committee will be recommended at their meeting on Tuesday to earmark just £2,775 to the project.

Officers say the society should be encouraged and supported to approach other interested organisations with an interest in red deer - such as the National Trust, Forestry Commission, hunts and the Deer Society - to bridge the shortfall.

In an appraisal of the project, sub-committee members will be told that the only match funding secured to meet the difference between the grant sought and the total cost of the project would be from in-kind input from deer managers and the provision of photos.

Officers said the proposals were designed to build on work completed in an initial feasibility study conducted on behalf of the national park authority, concluded earlier this year.

The data gathered would be presented alongside that collected in the annual deer counts with the results viewed alongside existing information, such as deer density, land cover, uses and management and differences in deer management.

But officers said experience in other sectors suggested that qualitative observational data collection, such as the proposed condition assessments, could be very subjective when completed by different people and organisations across different locations, which could undermine the overall value of any results gathered.

They said that, given the interest in red deer, it could be argued that any significant change in their condition or state of health would be picked up on anyhow.

"Perhaps the most useful benefits of such a project will be to monitor long term trends," said the appraisal.

"However, the application provides no details on how, or whether this work will be continued beyond the initial funding.

"In addition, the project is seeking to gather retrospective data for 2011/12 which may not provide an accurate picture unless detailed observations were recorded at the time of, for example, discovering a deceased animal."

The project would also fund a written and illustrated article that would be widely distributed and the preparation and delivery of an illustrated talk.

Society spokesman Michelle Werrett said the deer were highly valuable to Exmoor, both culturally and economically.

A study in 2009 had demonstrated that a thriving herd was worth around £3.2 million annually to the area.

"Deer management on Exmoor is undergoing significant change," she said.

"We have no way of knowing what impact this will have on the herd and it is urgent that a system of monitoring be put in place."

She said it was proposed to promote and explain the results of the study to a wider audience to generate support and understanding for the project and of the Exmoor red deer herd.