A new community deer coordinator trial in western Victoria offers a blueprint for tackling the state’s growing feral deer problem – while exposing how Victoria’s outdated protection of deer as a game species is holding back practical control efforts.
The Grampians-Gariwerd Deer Coordinator Trial, delivered by Project Platypus, is putting a dedicated coordinator on the ground for 14 months to help landholders, Landcare groups and government agencies work together on deer surveillance and control across the region.
The Invasive Species Council says the model could be the missing link for deer-affected communities across Victoria, helping coordinate control across private properties, national parks, state forests and other public land rather than leaving individual landholders to tackle the problem in isolation.
‘Community deer coordinators should be rolled out across Victoria to give deer-affected communities the practical support and coordination they need,’ said Invasive Species Council Conservation Advocate John Kelly.
‘Deer don’t stop at a property boundary. We need someone on the ground bringing landholders, Landcare groups and government agencies together so control happens across the landscape rather than property by property.
‘This trial exposes a much bigger problem with the way Victoria handles deer. The work is federally funded and coordinated by the National Feral Deer Coordinator, while Victoria’s own rules make it harder to fund practical deer control.
‘One of the fundamental problems in Victoria is that feral deer are still protected as a game species rather than treated as a pest. That means practical deer control projects like this can struggle to access funding, even though DEECA and Parks Victoria support the work.
‘We keep hearing from the Victorian Government that protecting deer as a game species doesn’t get in the way of controlling them, but the fact that a project like this has struggled to access Victorian funding shows the real-world consequences of that status.
‘The people on the ground want to do the work, but the rules and funding system make it harder to resource.
‘Victoria should be making it easier for communities to tackle feral deer, not maintaining a system that puts barriers in their way.
‘This coordinator model could be the missing link that gives deer-affected communities the practical support and coordination they need – and we want to see it rolled out across Victoria.’
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Image credit: Trish-Punch
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