New footage reveals Gold Coast under feral deer siege
31 May, 2025
New footage shows invasive chital deer roaming near Gold Coast suburban streets, sparking concern over traffic risks and environmental damage.
New footage shows invasive chital deer roaming near Gold Coast suburban streets, sparking concern over traffic risks and environmental damage.
The Invasive Species Council has slammed news today that the Minns government will establish a feral goat, cat and pig bounty, despite overwhelming evidence that it will waste taxpayers money and make no difference to the numbers of these invasive species.
The Invasive Species Council has criticised the latest Victorian Budget for failing to invest in the state’s collapsing biodiversity and the growing threat of invasive species – despite overwhelming community support for action.
The Invasive Species Council is warning that the latest detection of fire ants on the Sunshine Coast is its most significant yet and a signal that the area might be harbouring many more undetected nests.
New government figures released today confirm a dramatic drop in the number of feral horses across the surveyed areas of Kosciuszko National Park, with the latest government estimates suggesting between 1,500 and 6,000 feral horses remain in the park.
The NSW Parliament has debated whether to repeal the controversial Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act, following a powerful, community-led campaign that saw 11,331 people sign a petition calling for the law to be scrapped.
The Invasive Species Council has welcomed the appointment of Senator Murray Watt as Minister for the Environment and Julie Collins as Minister for Agriculture, urging the Albanese Government to build on the momentum of the last term and deliver bold, practical action on invasive species.
The Invasive Species Council congratulates Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on his election win – and welcomes the return of a strong crossbench committed to action to protect Australian wildlife.
The Invasive Species Council is calling on the Minns government to urgently adopt the sweeping reforms recommended in the NSW Invasive Species Management Review, released today by the Natural Resources Commission.
The Invasive Species Council, Rabbit-Free Australia and the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions are calling on all parties to commit federal support to fast-track the next rabbit biocontrol virus, warning that vital research funding has dried up as the effectiveness of existing viruses fades.
The Invasive Species Council has expressed disappointment that major parties failed to commit to critical yellow crazy ant funding before voting commenced – warning that years of hard work and millions of dollars could be lost without urgent action.
Calls for all parties to seize a landmark opportunity to back 2 globally significant invasive species eradication programs in South Australia.
The Invasive Species Council is pleased to announce that Advocacy Director Jack Gough has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, following a competitive recruitment process.
The Invasive Species Council warns that confusion about the implications of a Weed of National Significance (WONS) listing for buffel grass could undermine efforts to tackle one of Australia’s most damaging invaders.
The Invasive Species Council has welcomed today’s federal election commitments from the Australian Greens, applauding the party’s pledge to dramatically boost investment in nature and establish a Land and Sea Country Commissioner, an independent First Nations voice to guide environmental protection and management.
The Invasive Species Council was formed in 2002 to seek stronger laws, policies and programs to protect nature from harmful pests, weeds and diseases.
The Invasive Species Council acknowledges the Traditional Custodians throughout Australia and their connections to land and sea. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Our protected areas are being trashed, trampled, choked and polluted by an onslaught of invaders. Invasive species are already the overwhelming driver of our animal extinction rate, and are expected to cause 75 of the next 100 extinctions.
But you can help to turn this around and create a wildlife revival in Australia.
From numbats to night parrots, a tax-deductible donation today can help defend our wildlife against the threat of invasive weeds, predators, and diseases.
As the only national advocacy environment group dedicated to stopping this mega threat, your gift will make a big difference.
A silent crisis is unfolding across Australia. Every year, billions of native animals are hunted and killed by cats and foxes. Fire ants continue to spread and threaten human health. And the deadly strain of bird flu looms on the horizon. Your donation today will be used to put the invasive species threat in the media, make invasive species a government priority, ensure governments take rapid action to protect nature and our remarkable native wildlife from invasives-led extinction, death and destruction.
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Dear Project Team,
[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.]
I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.
The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.
The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.
This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.
Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.
Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.
Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.
I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.
Dear Project Team,
[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.]
I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.
The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.
The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.
This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.
Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.
Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.
Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.
I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.