New detailed mapping shows spread of feral deer in many areas

Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall said that deer have moved into new areas in NSW, now more than a fifth of the state, highlighting the need for targeted and sustained pest control.

The Invasive Species Council said it was concerned at the spread of the deer and more was needed on the ground to control them.

Council executive director Andrew Cox said there had been though a number of positive initiatives in feral deer control, and this DPI mapping was one of the new exciting developments.

Just recently a national deer management co-ordinator was appointed, based in Adelaide, and Victoria has just released its deer control strategy that was two years in the making.

Dr Annelise Wiebkin was appointed Australia' first National Deer Management Coordinator. She has a background with Biosecurity South Australia leading senior policy, technical, research and management work across the state.

Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management, David Littleproud, said the coordinator would engage farmers, natural resource managers and communities to increase their awareness, participation and motivation to control feral deer.

"Feral deer damage Australia's natural environment and agricultural businesses by trampling plants, grazing and ring-barking young trees, fouling waterholes, causing soil erosion and spreading weeds as well as potentially, transmitting livestock diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)," he said.

"FMD is a highly contagious animal disease that would have severe consequences were it to be introduced into Australia. Australia estimates that a small FMD outbreak, controlled in 3 months, could cost around $7.1 billion, while a large 12-month outbreak would cost $16 billion.

"The Australian Government, through a $20 million investment in the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions, is providing up to $550,000 over the next two years towards the new National Deer Management Coordinator role.

"Dr Annelise Wiebkin's role will expand on a successful model employed by South Australia to facilitate more coordinated control of feral deer and establish links between farmers, commercial harvesters and processors."

Meantime, the large Victorian-based samba deer are still moving north from Victoria, now displacing fallow deer in many areas, posing a risk to motorists as well as ruining farm fences.

Mr Cox said there was at least $20m going into feral deer research over the next five years, and some control porgrams had been successful, with some aerial shooting of deer in the wake of the bushfires.

"But more needs to be done for the effect to be sustained on the feral deer population." He was getting constant updates from landholders complaining of deer populations growing.

Deer had expanded their range dramatically in NSW in the last 10 years, almost doubling their range to cover nearly 22 per cent of the state. "Deer are constantly looking to expand into new areas and the change in the season is ripe for them to do so," Mr Cox said.

He said the 11 regional pest plans in NSW under the LLS umbrella were functioning well, but they relied on ongoing funding and "unless there are actions on the ground, there are just words".

Mr Marshall said: "Feral deer and pigs are four-legged menaces that cause headaches for our farmers, meaning we need new tools to support traditional pest controls methods used by primary producers and hunters to keep them in check," Mr Marshall said.

"Feral deer populations have continued to expand and they now occupy an area covering 22 per cent of the state, up five per cent in 2016. To get ahead of the problem we need to know exactly where they are and where they are likely to go next.

"This mapping tool will give public and private land managers insights they have never had before so that they can better track and document pest animal populations and movements in their area."

Mr Marshall said the mapping project, through the Department of Primary Industries, is part of a long-term plan to track pest animal population trends in NSW, including deer and pigs.

"Drought and bushfires have had a short-term effect on pest animal populations, but we have also seen the efforts of our coordinated control programs begin to be rewarded," Mr Marshall said.

"The total area of high-density feral pig populations has been reduced by a massive 24 per cent in 2020, compared with 2016.

"This year we also took the additional step of adding feral pigs to our mapping exercise to better inform strategies focused on addressing the risk of African swine fever entering the country."

Research into the presence and behaviour of pest animals will continue to inform the development of control options, which are used in strategic management plans to reduce pest impact on agriculture, the environment and community, a release said.

"The pest animal mapping shows population densities across NSW, and is available at https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/biosecurity/vertebrate-pests/publications/distributionmaps-for-vertebrate-pests.

"The maps allow landholders to track progress in managing pests aligned with LLS. Landholders should contact their nearest LLS office for advice on managing pest animals."

The Invasive Species Council recently said deer were posing a major threat to the Tasmanian wilderness.

The Council and former Greens leader Christine Milne have written to World Heritage governing body UNESCO in a plea for help to "address the 'urgent and increasing threat' feral deer now pose to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area".

"The letter warns that despite aerial surveys showing feral deer numbers have doubled to about 54,000 in just four years the Tasmanian Government is failing to take the rapidly expanding deer population seriously," the Council said.