Feral deer numbers in Victoria soar as they remain protected species

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Feral animals cause billions of dollars damage each year while severely impacting native flora and fauna. In Victoria's beautiful Otways, deer numbers are out of control, but the animals are a protected species.

Transcript

00:00 The dense, cool temperate rainforests and old growth trees in Victoria's Otways make

00:07 it a biodiversity wonder.

00:11 But underneath these lush canopies, growing hordes of unwelcome, destructive pests roam

00:17 without a care in the world.

00:19 It really is the perfect little environment for them to thrive and I'd hate to think how

00:24 many there are here.

00:26 He's talking about deer. Introduced 150 years ago for hunting, for a long time they were

00:32 just a curiosity in the landscape.

00:34 But their numbers have grown at an alarming rate and they're now found in nearly 40% of

00:40 Victoria.

00:41 They're running up a national damage bill of $91 million a year, much of that to agricultural

00:48 pastures.

00:49 I harvest three nights a week, sometimes four, depending on numbers of orders that I have.

00:56 Anthony kills between 400 and 500 fellow deer each year from private land and forestry plantations

01:03 in the Otways.

01:04 I don't know what program is going to actually eliminate.

01:09 The word eliminate meaning there's no more there.

01:12 I can't see that in my lifetime.

01:16 The Invasive Species Council says deer populations have expanded beyond the ability of any hunting

01:22 activity to control them.

01:24 Deer also remain a protected species under the Victorian Wildlife Act, something the

01:29 council says urgently needs to change.

01:32 This is really important, not just so that they are dealt with as a pest, but at the

01:37 moment we've got this really confused position in the community where some people see deer

01:41 as being a pest and an annoyance and something has to be done about them.

01:45 The neighbour next door thinks they're cute and likes the idea of having them around.

01:50 So there's this inconsistent approach to how we manage deer.

01:54 On top of that, the government's actually investing money, tax-based money, into deer

01:58 control at the same time protecting them.

02:00 So it's really a ridiculous situation.

02:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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