The South Australian government has ramped up its aerial feral deer culling program as some drought-affected farmers battle large numbers of the pest on their properties.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Experts are urging NSW and Victorian authorities to step up their eradication programs to prevent a feral deer plague.<\/p>\n
Invasive Species Council chief executive officer Jack Gough said SA’s deer eradication program was the most ambitious in Australia and other states should follow.<\/p>\n
“Feral deer are the next big rabbit plague for Australia,” Mr Gough said.<\/p>\n
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Feral deer damage pastures on the Limestone Coast. (Supplied: Limestone Coast Landscape Board)<\/p>\n
He said New South Wales and Victoria had high populations of feral deer and they were not being managed.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately, feral deer are trashing, trampling and polluting the place,” Mr Gough said.<\/p>\n
“Once that population is out of control, like it is in NSW and Victoria, there really is no going back from a permanent deer plague across the state.<\/p>\n
He said there was no funding behind the “ambitious” National Feral Deer Action Plan<\/a> from the federal government or the NSW and Victorian governments.<\/p>\n Feral deer walk across a road in the upper south-east of SA. (Supplied: Limestone Coast Landscape Board)<\/p>\n Minister for Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins, said significant progress was being made in delivery of the National Feral Deer Action Plan 2023-2028.<\/p>\n “The federal government funds the National Deer Management Coordinator Program and has invested $8.26 million in feral deer-related projects since 2021-2022,” she said.<\/p>\n “This included funding to continue the national coordination program for feral deer and to co-fund priority pest projects with the states and territories.”<\/p>\n Culling drives down numbers<\/p>\n The Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) said the population has almost halved since it launched the South Australian Feral Deer Eradication Program in 2022.<\/p>\n The program is the most extensive in the country, with South Australia the only state actively moving towards total eradication<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Feral deer populations can grow by more than 30 per cent a year. (Supplied: Limestone Coast Landscape Board)<\/p>\n Despite the South East having the highest feral deer populations, officials said they could be at a turning point with enough momentum to eradicate the pest.<\/p>\n The Limestone Coast Landscape Board has been undertaking aerial culling in some parts of the region, removing about 1,100 animals from the landscape so far this year.<\/p>\n The aerial culling program involves helicopters sweeping low over conservation areas, plantations and landholder-approved properties, causing concerns from deer hunters about animal cruelty<\/a> and the danger of being shot themselves<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n Steve Bourne says aerial culling is the most effective way to remove large numbers of feral deer.\u00a0 (ABC South East SA: Elsie Adamo)<\/p>\n Landscape board general manager Steve Bourne said South Australia’s recent dry conditions had changed where deer populations were congregating.<\/p>\n “We’re seeing them spread around more and they’re being seen in places where they haven’t been seen before,” Mr Bourne said.<\/p>\n Aerial culling of feral deer in South Australia has been more effective than on-ground shooting. (Supplied: Limestone Coast Landscape Board)<\/p>\n He said the movement was making it easier for aerial culling efforts, with feral deer travelling into more open areas.<\/p>\n “That really does give us an opportunity to get in and drive those populations down really quickly,” he said.<\/p>\n “In really dry times when there’s irrigation in an area, the deer are congregated there.”<\/p>\n An economic analysis undertaken by PIRSA in 2022 said about 40,000 deer accounted for $36 million in agricultural productivity losses.<\/p>\n Feral deer can significantly impact the availability of livestock grazing pasture when left unchecked.\u00a0 (ABC South East SA: Elsie Adamo)<\/p>\n PIRSA feral deer eradication coordinator Myall Tarran said the initial results were promising.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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