Illawarra feral deer management

South East Local Land Services is working with the local Illawarra community to reduce the population of feral deer. Feral deer cause damage to the environment, public and private property and pose a public safety risk in many parts of the Illawarra by:

• causing environmental degradation  
• attracting illegal hunters
• causing significant motor vehicle and railway accidents.

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Video transcript

Illawarra Feral Deer Management Program

we have a 40 acre property here and we've been

here just over 10 years now ever since we arrived here we've been

planting with landcare but the problem with the deer is they

can jump over any fence that we have here

and they were eating our plantings and that

was a huge concern to us we get a lot of inquiry from people in relation to

deer creating say asset destruction competing

with livestock for pasture and damaging fences

melinda has got a fairly unique farm here in the middle of a built up area

she's also got some great riparian areas and a lot of remnant vegetation which

is all harbour for deer the program's been running since 2011

and we've managed to remove in excess of 3500 deer through

ground shooting operations our ground shooting operations are all vehicle based

and they're nocturnal these operations are undertaken under some very very

strict protocols and procedures safety is of the

paramount wollongong has had deer for a while now

they were introduced very early into the royal national park they now

inhabit wollongong and to the point where they've become a pest

animal southeast local land services is involved in

coordinating this program working with other

stakeholders and land managers in this area to manage deer

it's an area that we can make a difference because it is a new challenge

and we can all learn from each other and work out how to tackle this issue

together we've been a long time partner of the program

we're obviously very concerned about the environmental impacts of deer and the

impacts on farmers in terms of lost agricultural

productivity but really the primary motivation for council being involved

was normal everyday residents being worried

about interactions with deer and people having

car accidents with deer although the data shows that the deer

are still continuing to grow in their

population the rate of that growth has been diminished

by the control efforts but also the local impacts of deer have

been reduced through the management we acknowledge that it's

a really difficult problem we're focused on building

the relationships and the implementing programs that

can be maintained in the long term so the impact of a deer in a peri-urban

environment have a much greater impact to make the program sustainable for us

we need to just keep working towards it it's very important that we just don't

take our foot off the pedal

 

 

 

Project background

The geography of the Illawarra is suitable for deer, bordered by natural areas to the north and the west, with access to open grassy feeding areas in peri-urban and urban areas. They travel along creek lines and through existing vegetation corridors which also support native wildlife.

Deer are a challenging pest to control in an area like this. They are a canny animal that are easily startled and learn to hide in inaccessible sites.  

All species of deer are identified as priority pests under the South East Regional Strategic Pest Animal Management Plan.  

The Illawarra Feral Deer Management Program, (formerly the Northern Illawarra Feral Deer Management Program) was founded in 2011 with the aim of suppressing the deer population in the Illawarra.

Project objectives

Local Land Services Illawarra Feral Deer Management Program aims to:

• minimise economic, social and environmental deer impacts
• promote engagement with the Illawarra community to share the responsibility of deer management
• ensure the program is safe for people and is ethical
• ensure the program is collaborative and financially sustainable.

A key focus of the program is in protecting the welfare of injured animals and the humane treatment of deer.

Project delivery

The program is comprised of governance and operational committees made up of local public and private land managers and South East Local Land Services, including a program coordinator to oversee operations. 

Safety of people is paramount, and the program has very stringent safety protocols, critical for operating without incident in populated and semi-populated areas around the Illawarra.

Work underway

Since 2011 the program has removed over 7400 deer from the Illawarra.

Funding and partnerships

South East Local Land Services and partners manage the program through an operational committee and a governance committee. Partners include:

• Wollongong City Council
• Water NSW
• Sydney Trains
• Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
• National Parks and Wildlife Service
• Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Centre for Invasive Species Solutions
• GM3
• RSPCA
• Symbio Zoo
• Shellharbour City Council
• Kiama Council
• private landholders 

There are also more than 50 private landholders participating in the program either providing access to their land and/or reporting sightings.