Feral deer putting NSW drivers at risk

Feral Herald |

An investigation by the Invasive Species Council reveals that feral deer in the Illawarra region south of Sydney are putting drivers at risk of costly collisions and even death.

The Illawarra is a deer hotspot, with increasing numbers creating havoc for motorists. Since 2011 major land managers and the two local councils have coordinated a deer control program to minimise the damage caused by feral deer. Despite more than 2000 deer being culled, we can now confirm that deer are still a major problem for motorists.

Data released under a freedom of information request shows that the suburbs of Helensburgh and Otford have recorded the most major collisions between motorists and feral deer over the past 13 years, with one fatality in 2012.

The information showed all recorded vehicle collisions involving feral deer in the Wollongong and Lake Illawarra police command areas from 2005 to 2017.

  • There were 107 motor vehicle accidents, 90 rated as ‘serious’, including 28 resulting in injuries and one death. The single fatality occurred in 2012 on West Dapto Rd in Kembla Grange.
  • Helensburgh recorded 18 major collisions with deer since 2005, followed by Otford with 10, Mount Ousley with seven and Figtree recording five.
  • The most dangerous roads in those areas for feral deer collisions are the F6 Freeway, on which 18 collisions were recorded, followed by Lady Wakehurst Drive with 14, the Princes Highway with eight and Lawrence Hargrave Drive six.

Across the state, deer numbers are rapidly growing, with the proportion of the state impacted by feral deer more than doubling from 8% in 2009 to 17% in 2016, with most deer found in the state’s eastern third.

The data was retrieved by an information request under the Government Information (Public Access) Act to NSW Police and provided from the NSW Police Computerised Operational Policing System (COPS).

The results paint a worrying picture. Reviewing the data on a yearly basis, deer collisions are still occurring despite the coordinated control efforts.

Vehicle collisions with deer by category in Wollongong, Lake Illawarra police districts 2005-2017

Hidden figures

The data showed a major reduction in collisions from 2015. On inquiring with NSW Police Wollongong district command, the Invasive Species Council was told that this was due to changed statewide reporting protocols introduced at the start of 2015. Under the new protocols, collisions entered in the COPS database can only be those where a car was towed, resulted in personal injury that required medical treatment or involved drugs or alcohol. Other collisions, even if resulting in major property damage, are no longer centrally reported.[1]

These protocol changes will result in the underreporting of all deer collisions in NSW, making it harder to identify priority areas for preventative action, and make historical comparisons more difficult.

Most dangerous suburbs and roads

The most frequent location for collisions was Helensburg, with 21 incidents, 9 of these occurring on the F6 freeway, followed by Otford (11) and Figtree (7) and Mount Ousley (7).

Table 1: Top ten most dangerous suburbs in the Illawarra for deer collisions
Suburb

Major collisions

Total collisions

Helensburgh

18

21

Otford

10

11

Mount Ousley

7

7

Figtree

5

7

Stanwell Park

3

5

Darkes Forest

5

5

Cataract

3

4

Berkeley

4

4

Lilyvale

4

4

Kembla Heights

4

4

There were 21 collisions on the F6, the freeway that connects Sydney’s outer suburbs to Wollongong, while the Lady Wakehurst Drive that connects Royal National Park to Otford and coastal towns to the south, had 15 accidents during the period. There is a collision resulting in injury on the F6 on average once every two years. On average there are at least two vehicle accidents causing injuries in the Illawarra region every year.

Table 2: Top ten most dangerous roads in the Illawarra for deer collisions
Road

Major collisions

All collisions

F6 Fwy

18

21

Lady Wakehurst Dr

14

15

Princes Hwy

8

9

Lawrence Hargrave Dr

6

9

Mount Ousley Rd

7

8

Southern Fwy

5

5

Old Princes Hwy

4

4

O’Briens Rd

2

4

Cordeaux Rd

3

3

Mount Keira Rd

3

3

Data on the cost of collision damage was not held by the COPS database and was not provided.

More info


[1] pers comm.15 May 2018. Snr Constable Cotton, NSW Police, Wollongong.

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Help protect NSW!

Our expert team has written a list of policy asks detailing exactly what the next NSW government needs to do to stamp out some of the worst invasive species impacts across the state. But they will only become a reality if every key political candidate at the 2023 NSW state election hears about it from you!

Dear National Deer Management Coordinator,

Please accept this as a submission to the National Feral Deer Action Plan.

[Your personalised message will appear here] 

I am very concerned about the spread of deer and am pleased that a national plan has finally been developed. Without urgent action, funding and commitment from all levels of government it is clear that feral deer will continue to spread and damage our environment.

The feral deer population in Australia is growing rapidly and spreading across the country, damaging our natural environment, causing havoc for farmers and foresters and threatening public safety. Unlike much of the world where deer are native, our plants and wildlife haven’t evolved to deal with these heavy hard hooved animals with a voracious appetite.
With no natural predators and an ability to adapt to almost all environments, they could occupy almost all of Australia unless stopped. Despite this, state and territory governments have been slow to respond and in Victoria and Tasmania they are still protected by law for the enjoyment of hunters.

This plan should be adopted by all governments but must also be underpinned by dedicated funding and clear responsibilities. A plan without funding or accountability is a plan that will fail and Australia cannot afford for this to fail.

In order to prevent the spread of feral deer and reduce their impact on our native wildlife, ecosystems and agriculture, I ask that the following recommendations be adopted for the final National Feral Deer Action Plan:

1. All federal, state and territory governments should adopt the National Feral Deer Action Plan and declare feral deer to be a priority pest animal species.

2. All federal, state and territory governments should commit to:

  • Contain deer to the existing large population areas.
  • Reduce and eradicate smaller and isolated populations.
  • Protect important environmental assets such as world and national heritage areas.
  • Develop and fund regional plans and strategies to manage deer populations which involve land managers across all tenures.

3. In order to drive action and the success of this plan, there should be dedicated Commonwealth funding and support for:

  • A permanent national feral deer coordinator position.
  • A permanent federal feral deer action committee with representatives from the commonwealth and state and territory governments and the environmental and agricultural sectors.
  • An ongoing public education campaign on feral deer.
  • A network of regional feral deer coordinators to drive local action across tenures.

4. The expected outcomes for the plan need to be more ambitious, with clear interim targets including:

  • Within one year, all States and Territories should have in place arrangements to implement the National Feral Deer Action Plan, including allocating dedicated funding for implementation.
  • Within one year, feral deer management plans should be developed for key environmental assets of national significance, including the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, the Greater Blue Mountains, the Australian Alps, the Gondwana Rainforests and the Wet Tropics of Queensland.
  • Within five years coordinated landscape scale management should be in place where land owners, land managers, government and community are demonstrably working together.

5. A national feral deer containment map with three zones should be adopted. It should be more ambitious than the zone map in the current draft plan and there should be greater clarity in the naming of the zones. Improvements that should be adopted include:

  • Renaming the zones to better reflect the management intention to ‘Containment Zone 1’ (the current large population zone), ‘Containment Buffer Zone 2’ (the current buffer zone) and ‘Eradication and prevention Zone 3’ (the current small isolated population zone).
  • The NSW northern rivers area should be in the eradication and prevention zone as there are few feral deer currently in this region and eradicating isolated populations and preventing spread into this area is still possible.
  • The whole of South Australia should be in the eradication and prevention zone as eradication is the goal of the SA Government.
  • The Tasmanian region in the containment zone should be smaller to reflect greater ambition and potential for eradication of deer populations.
  • In eastern Victoria areas such as Wilson’s Promontory, Westernport islands and the Mornington Peninsula should be in the eradication and prevention zone.

6. There should be consistent laws and regulations across all states and territories that:

  • Recognise feral deer as a pest animal and treat them as such.
  • Establish a clear responsibility for all landholders and managers to be involved in feral deer control programs.
  • Set clear penalties to stop the wilful or negligent release of feral deer.
  • Prevent new deer farms in areas where no feral deer are present and phase out all deer farms in the eradication and prevention zone.
  • Enable enforcement of compliance, including on government land.

I support the follow principles being adopted in the final National Feral Deer Action Plan:

  • Feral deer are a pest and should be treated as such on all tenures, except on approved deer farms.
  • Federal, state and territory governments have a responsibility to fund the outcomes under this plan.
  • All land managers in areas where feral deer are present have a responsibility to be involved in feral deer control programs.
  • The focus of management efforts should be on eradication of isolated, satellite populations, protection of key environmental assets currently impacted and stopping the spread to new regions.
  • Feral deer control should be undertaken humanely, safely and professionally according to agreed protocols and all tools which meet this criteria should be adopted, including aerial control.
  • Funding for coordination, regional planning and community engagement is necessary for effective feral deer management.
  • Ongoing management and follow up control efforts are required to achieve long lasting results.
  • Rules and regulations should be consistent across jurisdictions and land tenures.
  • Recreational hunting is not an effective strategy for feral deer control and should not be relied upon.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your email address]
[Your suburb], [Your state]