Calls for deer on the menu, and off roads

WILD Tasmanian deer should be off our roads and on our menus, says a leading meat processor with venison orders he cannot fill.

Wild deer are increasingly coming into Hobart suburbs, including this one spotted at Kingston Beach Golf course. Picture: Shaun Smith

WILD Tasmanian deer should be on our menus and off our roads, says a leading meat processor with venison orders he cannot fill.

John Kelly, of Lenah Game Meats, says Tasmania is missing out on millions of dollars of venison export opportunities while the state continues to protect a feral species that is getting out of control.

“We know there’s a lot more deer out there than there should be, they are a problem for farmers, they are a problem in World Heritage Areas and now they are a problem on roads,” Mr Kelly said.

The call comes as wild deer are being spotted closer to Hobart’s suburbs, with sightings near the Southern Outlet and on the Kingston Beach golf course.

Kingston Beach Golf Club general manager Shaun Smith said he first spotted a deer on a driving range adjoining bushland about 10 days ago, and since then two deer have been gradually moving further from cover.

“Every day they are coming further and further from the bushland and on to the golf course,” he said.

The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment said the appearance of deer in suburban areas was posing “particular challenges for their management”.

“The department is aware of deer in the Kingston Beach area,” a spokesman said.

“It is currently evaluating appropriate methods for managing deer in a situation like this.”

In a November policy document, the Government pledged to address the species’ growth and said it would consider allowing deer to be sold as game meat.

The Government is setting up a new independent game council to advise on the feasibility of a limited trial using special permits for deer farmers and landholders to supply wild deer products for the regulated food or restaurant trade.

But Mr Kelly said the Government’s plan had so many conditions it would be slow moving — while action was needed now.

As well as the public danger, Mr Kelly said Tasmania was wasting a commercial opportunity with wild deer being “shot and left to rot”.

“They could be an asset for the state … it’s a sinful waste,” he said.

Mr Kelly sells about a tonne of venison a month into Tasmania, sourced from wild harvesting of deer on the mainland.

He said Lenah Meats had also opened up markets for venison interstate and in Canada, but none of the meat was coming from Tasmania.

While some states classify deer as a pest, in Tasmania they are “partly protected” for hunting purposes. But their traditional range through the Midlands has grown over the past 10 years, causing havoc to farms across the state and conservation zones.

Meander Valley councillor Tanya King said deer were posing threats in many areas of the North.

“The wild deer population are encroaching on our urban and residential fringes, and with increasing prevalence on our roads, they are causing accidents, and creating a nuisance,” she said.

And Cr King believes the problem is getting worse.

“The problem is not restricted to Westbury. I have residents, mostly night shift workers, contact me on a regular basis with sightings, near misses and worse in the vicinity of Hadspen, Travellers Rest and Blackstone Heights,” she said.

Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association president Wayne Johnston said enabling a commercial harvest of wild deer was a “complex issue”, which needed to consider the interest of existing deer farms in the state and hunters.

But he said the deer population was a problem for farmers, with mobs of up to 200 animals wrecking crops overnight.

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