Canberra: Driver avoids feral deer on Ginninderra Drive

A Canberra driver had a bizarre “deer miss” after a massive antlered beast bounded in front of his vehicle on a busy highway. Watch the incredible footage.

A Canberra driver has captured dashcam footage of a wild deer charging across a busy road, sparking alarm, countless puns and a broader warning about the exploding feral deer population making its way into suburbia.

“I was just driving up Ginninderra Drive,” Chris Perkovic said.

“The all of a sudden, from across the road, I saw this big brown, huge thing with antlers. I’m like, hang on a second!”

Ginninderra Drive is a major arterial road in the northern suburbs of Canberra with thousands of motorists using it each day.

“Well, I was just absolutely shocked … I’ve never seen anything like it in my whole life,” Mr Perkovic said.

Image of deer provided by Centre for Invasive Species Solutions. Picture: Darryn Mundt

“I thought I was going crazy.”

Mr Perkovic said the beast came close to his vehicle.

Feral deer in Kosciuszko National Park. Photography by Peta Morton

“It was probably anywhere between half a car length, car length, so pretty close,” he said.

“It would have done a fair bit of damage. The van next to me and I managed to slow down and let it go across — and then it just ran into the bushes.”

The dashcam video has gone semi-viral online with thousands of reactions and shares.

Canberra community Facebook page followers have weighed in with bad puns – “no venison for concern here” and “oh that was a deer miss” – while others expressed shock that deer were in Canberra at all.

“It’s just bizarre,” Mr Perkovic said. “We know there’s deer around the outskirts of NSW, but I never thought one would be amongst us.”

Invasive Species Council chief executive officer Jack Gough said the ACT government was ahead of the curve with thermal-assisted aerial culling of deer.

“The pressure of the growing population means that increasingly they are getting into urban areas,” he said.

“This is the consequence of two decades of inaction and mismanagement by the NSW government, driven by the power of the shooting lobby.

“Feral deer are trashing, trampling and polluting our forests and rivers, and are an increasing threat to motorists and agriculture.”

He warned the problem wasn't going away — even if local numbers drop.

“Unfortunately, even if the numbers get down to zero, they’ll keep crossing the border because NSW is doing such a poor job of managing feral deer,” he said.

Deer cost motorists up to $13.2m with an estimated 300 crashes a year across Australia.

Within Australia, there are six species of deer with the most common being the Sambar deer.

A spokesperson from Invasive Species Council stated: “People know how much damage 40-60kg kangaroos can cause to their car but don’t always realise just how big and heavy a deer can be.

“Sambar deer for example can be 250-300 kilos.”

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Originally published as Canberra: Driver avoids feral deer on Ginninderra Drive