Deer numbers out of control, say farmers

The deer population in Victoria is estimated to be about one million.

A report by Frontier Economics last year said the impact of deer in Victoria was expected to cost agriculture $350 million in the next 30 years.

Ovens Valley orchardist Don Nightingale said deer were such an issue that he had been forced to fence most of his orchards.

“This costs us about $1000 for every 100m of fence and anywhere we plant young trees, we’ve really got to fence for deer,” Mr Nightingale said.

“But they were still getting into older trees and smashing them.

Mr Nightingale described the deer population as having “exploded”.

“Twenty years ago it was an event to see a deer, but today, most nights you go out on a drive you see them.”

The government last month said it would not change the status of deer from ‘protected’ after a review of the Wildlife Act received 44 submissions wanting the status removed.

A government spokesperson said the lifting of the status would have “no effect’’ on deer numbers.

A report from the review given to Victorian Environment Minister Ingrid Stitt has not been made public.

Mr Nightingale was critical of the status of deer being maintained as protected.

“That’s typical government isn’t it, blind to most things that the farming community has got to put up with,” he said.

“Anybody farming would be of the same opinion as me.”

The Invasive Species Council deer project officer Peter Jacobs said the council welcomed, with caveats, the temporary lifting of the “archaic need” for public land managers to obtain permits under Victoria’s Wildlife Act to control feral deer on public land.

“These orders come with a number of conditions however, and for public land it is only for three years,” Mr Jacobs said.

“They only allow for shooting and not trapping and private property owners continue to need a permit to control destructive hog deer.

“Irrespective of these administrative workarounds, at the heart of this, feral deer are still protected wildlife in Victoria.

“These bureaucratic orders clearly demonstrate the failure of public policy and Victoria’s Wildlife Act to stem the disturbing impact that feral deer are having on the environment and the economy.

“It’s time to classify them as pest as is the case in most of Australia.”

Recreational hunters in Victoria account for shooting more than 10 per cent of the estimated population of deer, with the average yearly harvest since 2014 being 102,000 with 179,000 shot in 2019.

Australian Deer Association head of advocacy and deer management Sean Kilkenny said numbers would grow as more people continued to hunt.

“The game status of deer enables hunting in national parks and if it could be extended you can contribute to control measures,” Mr Kilkenny said.

“The status is actually an enabler as it allows for people to participate in control.

“That’s the irony here.”

He said solutions were available for all parties to engage with.

“There’s an opportunity there to deliver outcomes where everyone is involved.

“We are at a point now where we are looking at the issue with maturity, in which case everybody wins.”

Mr Kilkenny said the ADA had worked quite closely with plantation forest businesses to deliver management programs.

“There are solutions there available to mitigate damage to forests,” he said.

The Invasive Species Council national deer management co-ordinator Annelise Weibkin said a national plan was needed to control deer numbers.

“What we’re learning is that deer need to be controlled across property boundaries,” Dr Weibkin said.

“Farmers are often at their wits’ ends to find the time to control deer; it is not always feasible and effective.”

Dr Weibkin said consistency was needed so that any farmers’ neighbours would share in the obligation of controlling deer.

Mr Nightingale said many of his orchards were bordered by national parks where deer thrived.

“We’ve asked them to clear back on their fence lines. Nothing ever happens.

“They’re terrible neighbours.”