Tasmanian government’s draft plan to manage wild fallow deer population ‘favours hunters’

A new Tasmanian government plan to address the state’s rising feral deer numbers has been criticised as favouring hunters over farmers and the wilderness. LATEST PLAN >>

The state government’s draft plan to manage Tasmania’s feral deer population favours hunters over the interests of farmers and protecting the wilderness, the Invasive Species Council says.

The Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment Department (DPIPWE) has released its draft five-year Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer Management Plan, following an aerial survey as part of the first ever statewide deer census.

Once finalised, the plan will establish a framework for managing the feral deer population.

Invasive Species Council deer project officer Peter Jacobs said the draft plan continued to support partially protecting feral deer as game animals and “reinforces hunter-focused policies that have seen feral deer numbers explode from a few thousand in the 1970s to a population now approaching 100,000”.

“Under this plan farmers will be hindered in their efforts by ongoing permit requirements or the need to have agreements with hunter groups simply to control deer on their own farming land,” he said.

Fallow Deer returning to the hills to sleep after grazing in the fields of a Tasmanian Midlands farm.

“Most disturbingly, the plan sanctions the retention of feral deer in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Ben Lomond and Douglas-Apsley national parks and will eventually see feral deer invading Cradle Mountain.”

A DPIPWE spokeswoman said the draft plan was developed through “significant” consultation with relevant stakeholders and “aims to ensure that the impact of wild fallow deer on agricultural production, conservation areas and forestry and the broader community are balanced with maintaining deer as a traditional hunting resource”.

“Once the five-year plan is finalised and adopted, an implementation plan will be developed to outline timelines, actions, resourcing requirements, and reporting processes to ensure that the plan is delivered,” the spokeswoman said.