{"id":534390,"date":"2026-03-12T00:24:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T00:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/534390\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T00:24:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T00:24:21","slug":"tasmania-deer-population-sparks-hundreds-of-submissions-to-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/534390\/","title":{"rendered":"Tasmania deer population sparks hundreds of submissions to government"},"content":{"rendered":"

An environmental group says the Tasmanian government has an opportunity to take stronger action on the state\u2019s growing deer population following the release of hundreds of public submissions on deer management.<\/p>\n

Dr Tiana Pirtle from the Invasive Species Council said the overwhelming message from the consultation was clear and has called for targeted control programs in conservation areas and within Tasmania\u2019s deer-free zone.<\/p>\n

She warned that relying on recreational hunting alone would not effectively reduce deer numbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity for minister [Gavin] Pearce and the Tasmanian government to do something different rather than just relying on people doing a hobby to do their job for them,\u201d she told Pulse.<\/p>\n

\"\"Dr Tiana Pirtle from the Invasive Species Council has warned about deer damage for land owners<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019ll see if they take that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 830 public submissions were received as part of the state government\u2019s consultation on deer management.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tasmania is facing a growing deer population affecting farmers and motorists<\/p>\n

The consultation summary, released this week by Primary Industries Minister Gavin Pearce, outlines several key recommendations including streamlining hunting permits and reclassifying wild fallow deer as invasive pests.<\/p>\n

Pearce said controlling deer numbers would require cooperation across the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to get deer numbers under control, we need to take a collaborative approach,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The submissions also showed strong support for giving landowners greater flexibility to manage deer on their own properties.<\/p>\n

\"\"Minister Gavin Pearce received over 830 submissions on deer management policy. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a very strong response from our recreational hunters, sending a clear message that they want the freedom and flexibility to take more deer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pirtle said people don\u2019t want restrictions in place on removing deer from the landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was overwhelming support from landowners, conservation groups, but also recreational hunters that really the bureaucratic red tape needs to be reduced,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said the deer crisis has reached alarming levels across Tasmania, with farmers reporting to her herds of 400 deer moving through properties, damaging fences and destroying crops.<\/p>\n

\"\"Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

Car crashes involving deer have also surged 162% over five years and Tasmanians have claimed close to $800,000 in insurance costs from deer-related vehicle accidents, according to RACT data.<\/p>\n

Pirtle said Tasmania sits at a critical tipping point, unlike mainland states where deer populations have spiralled out of control.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we keep going on the trajectory that we\u2019ve been going, we will get to that point,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cVictoria and New South Wales are completely overrun by deer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Greens MP Tabatha Badger has criticised the government\u2019s deer management approach. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

Greens MP Tabatha Badger said the government \u201cis more interested in protecting invasive deer than they are Tasmanian road users, farmers and our precious wild places\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese statistics lay bare what Tasmanians have been saying for years \u2013 that the out of control deer population poses a serious safety hazard and cost to Tasmanian road users,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the deer population exploding, it is clear that this Liberal Government\u2019s lax approach to deer management is failing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Hunters have been calling on the government to open more crown land to shoot for meat<\/p>\n

\u201cThis failure is costing Tasmanians, from the agriculture sector to road users, millions per year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government said they will consider the feedback before releasing its final policy response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An environmental group says the Tasmanian government has an opportunity to take stronger action on the state\u2019s growing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":["post-534390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}