Feral deer a thriving pest on King island

Picture: Renae Gale

DEER were introduced to King Island with the prospect of farming, however poor fencing, property sales and island departures led to the deer escaping and living well hidden within pockets across the island.

Earlier this month, a deer met Lynda French’s car in the forestry and she called for someone to take responsibility.

“Take care along the straight at the forestry. A deer has just come out of nowhere and smacked into my car. Someone needs to be taking responsibility for these now-feral animals,” she said.

The community responded with social media posts about their experiences and close encounters.

“King Island Landcare has been working on getting something done for some years. State Government applied for funds from the Federal Government last year but didn’t get it,” Kate Ravich said.

“There is an app that you can download and a website you can report sightings. Contact King Island Landcare. 

“The more fuss we all make and the more reports of where they are and what they are doing, the more likely we’ll get support for eradicating them.”

The federal feral deer biosecurity zone classifies King Island in their Eradication A strategy:  1.To remove all feral deer from the area and prevent re-colonisation; 2.No feral deer are occupying this area by 2027 and any feral deer detected are removed.

The current funding prioritises the Central Plateau and Great Western Tiers conservation areas in and adjacent to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area and satellite populations are a priority for eradication. The Tasmanian Government Feral Deer Control strategy is statewide, and while King Island federally is listed for deer eradication, the state defines the island as an “extended area where deer do or may now occur (includes low density and isolated pockets, deer farm escapes, translocations and natural spread)”. 

Under the regulations, fallow deer are a “partly protected” species that may only be taken through a hunting licence or permit issued under the regulations, such as a Property Protection Permit (PPP), which authorises the taking of deer to prevent damage to stock, crop or infrastructure. 

Until 2020,  all deer were subject to take limits and individual tags were required to be attached to each culled animal to ensure compliance. Since 2020, and in recognition of the increasing challenges landholders faced managing deer, there has been no limit on the number of antlerless (any female deer, male fawns and antlerless males) deer that can be taken under a hunting licence or permit. 

The partly protected status of feral deer in Tasmania’s Wildlife (General) Regulations 2010 is to be rescinded to enable land owners and public land managers to have unconstrained control of feral deer on the land they own or manage.

Ironically, the supermarkets this week have advertised imported Tasmanian venison for sale.

Until funding is made available to eradicate feral deer on King Island, take care driving on the Pegarah Road a few kilometres before and after the Sustainable Timber managed forestry, on South Road and near tall timbered bushland in Grassy.