THE Ministry of Defence has invested more than £30,000 in a project to track deer on the Lulworth range.

Global positioning (GPS) collars have been fitted to Sika deer to monitor their movement and numbers in the area.

Junior defence minister Derek Twigg told the House of Commons the MoD contributed £32,500 to the project.

The initiative is being co-funded by Bournemouth University and the British Deer Society, which have contributed £85,000 each.

Mr Twigg said the MoD's concerns were centred on the impact on "important local habitat" and also having to foot the bill for any damage caused by deer.

Mr Twigg said: "The numbers of Sika deer within the Lulworth Range area have been increasing.

"Defence Estates has been unable to determine whether this is due to resident herds or migration of deer from other areas, which are less well managed.

"The project aims to increase understanding of the issues involved."

David Kenyon, director for the British Deer Society for England and Wales, said it was vital to be able to monitor numbers with the size of military training areas such as Lulworth.

"Many training areas are wildlife havens," he said.

He also said the MoD took their responsibility towards wildlife on their land "very seriously".

The project is being driven by Bournemouth University's school of conservation science, which is collecting and analysing the data.