New photos and video reveal invasive chital deer – also known as spotted deer – roaming close to suburban streets in Merrimac and Nerang, raising alarm over the risk of increasing traffic accidents, environmental destruction and a lack of government funding for action.
The Invasive Species Council is urging the Queensland government to assist the Gold Coast City Council to ramp up eradication efforts before the situation spirals out of control – as it has in southern states.
‘Feral deer are one of Australia’s worst emerging invasive threats. They trash habitat, send native wildlife hungry and are increasingly darting across suburban roads, putting communities at risk,’ Invasive Species Council Advocacy Manager Reece Pianta said.
‘We’ve now got chital deer on the urban fringe of the Gold Coast, with residents reporting traffic accidents and sightings in built-up areas – and yet there’s currently no deer management plan for south east Queensland.
‘Despite being listed as a pest under the state’s Biosecurity Act, the Queensland Feral Deer Management plan is proving inadequate at a regional level in the face of a growing deer problem. There’s no population monitoring, no economic impact study, no regional leadership. We’re flying blind.
‘Unlike Victoria and NSW – where regional NRM groups are empowered to lead coordinated responses – Queensland councils are left to fend for themselves. This is just not working when councils are already under-resourced and dealing with other invasive threats like fire ants.
‘While we applaud the Gold Coast City Council’s recent efforts and investment in scaled up deer action, this needs to be supported by state government funding and regional planning and coordination with other councils, landowners and government agencies.
‘The situation on the Gold Coast is part of a growing Queensland deer population problem.
‘Urgent state action is needed for a targeted south east Queensland deer management strategy across all key local councils. This should involve state-funded deer response coordinators, a proper population estimate and economic impact study, a stakeholder roundtable to drive solutions and a public awareness campaign to encourage sightings and reporting.
‘We can’t make the mistakes of other states. Victoria ignored their deer problem for years – now its population could be around 1 million, leading to an ecological crisis that is costing millions in control.
‘Deer don’t stop at council boundaries – so neither should our response. It’s time for the state government to show leadership and prevent a full-blown deer crisis across south east Queensland.’
Media inquiries: (02) 8006 5004
Images and videos of invasive species for media to use are available here.
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