Fears feral deer are closing in on Hobart’s CBD after animal on the road in Mt Nelson

UPDATED: A DEER running wild in suburban Hobart has been captured by authorities and taken to a farm.

A deer pictured by a motorist on Nelson Rd in Mount Nelson.

UPDATED: A DEER running wild in suburban Hobart has been captured by authorities and taken to a farm.

A Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment spokeswoman said the fallow deer — photographed on Nelson Rd at Mt Nelson — had been reported to Game Services Tasmania.

“Today, officers of Game Services Tasmania and Biosecurity Tasmania, with the

assistance of officers of Hobart City Council, captured the deer and removed it to a deer

farm,” the spokeswoman said.

“Game Services Tasmania will continue to work with stakeholders in developing active

management strategies and monitoring for wild fallow deer in satellite locations.”

EARLIER: PHOTOGRAPHIC evidence confirming the threat posed to Hobart motorists by wild deer —— now pushing closer to the CBD — is further proof that urban control of the species might soon be impossible, a wildlife biologist has warned.

Nick Mooney, after viewing evidence captured by a local resident on Nelson Rd, Mt Nelson, yesterday, said the male deer was almost a year old, weighing up to 50kg and an example of a clear danger to bounce across your bonnet up to the windscreen’’.

“We are getting close to the tipping point where urban control might not be possible,’’ Mr Mooney, a veteran ex-government wildlife biologist, said.

“I’m not surprised and absolutely they are on the increase.

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“Now I see them in places that I have never seen them before.’’

Residents south of Hobart have this year reported wild deer in the Kingston and Mt Nelson areas, however this week’s photo is evidence the species is in suburban streets.

Mr Mooney said the history of deer in other parts of the world showed that once they got use to people they became common in suburban backyards.

“You’ve then got a situation where one person is feeding them and the neighbour is trying to get rid of them,’’ he said.

A deer at Kingston Beach Golf course, earlier this year. Picture: SHAUN SMITH

“In and around the urban areas it’s very difficult to deal with them.’’

He said the past policy dealing with deer had been a failure, adding landowners in rural and regional areas should have the power to control the population provided they abided by animal welfare and firearm laws.

Kingborough Council mayor Steve Wass said he was concerned about deer becoming entrenched in the suburbs, citing potential traffic safety, environmental and illegal hunting problems.

“It is a concern on a number of fronts,’’ Cr Wass said.

“Are you going to have hunters out there shooting at them?’’

Cr Wass said he had heard of “a couple of instances’’ of deer in the Kingborough region.

“I guess the first response is ‘where are they coming from’ and, from the State Government’s perspective, ‘what’s the State’s intention’?

“How long have they been there, where are they coming from and what should we be doing?’’

The photographer declined to comment to the Mercury but verified the image.

It is understood the deer was not immediately frightened and stood on the road for some time.