Deer plan doesn't go far enough: Invasive Species Council

A five-year draft Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer management plan, released by the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment, is currently open for public comment.

It looks at how the introduced deer population should be managed and contained.

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The draft proposes removing quotas and tags for antlerless deer, extending the hunting season and introducing longer crop-protection permits.

Invasive Species Council deer project officer Peter Jacobs said he had many discussions with farmers, particularly in the Midlands, who were 'quite exasperated' with the number of deer, growth in their population and the impact on operations.

"It's a wicked issue down in Tasmanian and needs to be resolved," Mr Jacobs said.

"Deer in Tasmania are partially protected, as a game species, which means farmers have to get permits and approvals to control them on their own properties," Mr Jacobs said.

He said the government must end what the council believed was its 'antiquated' protection of feral deer for hunters and set clear, ambitious targets to rein in exploding numbers of the pest animals.

"Tasmania's draft deer management plan continues to support partially protecting feral deer as game animals and reinforces hunter focused policies that have seen feral deer numbers explode from a few thousand in the 1970s to a population now approaching 100,000," he said.

"Under this plan farmers will be hindered in their efforts by ongoing permit requirements or the need to have agreements with hunter groups simply to control deer on their own land.

"Tasmania's draft deer management plan sets no biosecurity or conservation goals, targets or timeframes for reducing climbing numbers of deer, and fails on the funding front for controlling destructive feral deer."

Read more: Wild fallow deer population strains Tasmanian agriculture, report finds

Mr Jacobs said many farmers had very productive relationships with hunters.

"But they need more tools in their toolbox than just a few hunters coming onto their properties.

"They need to get in professional pest controllers, to protect crops and pastures."

Many farmers had biodiversity concerns and were trying to restore native grasslands and woods.

'The deer are impacting on them as well and they have a lot of trouble getting approval to remove them for biodiversity reasons, because the department only has crop protection permits."

He said the council was not talking about getting rid of hunting.

"There will still be opportunities for hunting, but it's about letting farmers get on with controlling deer, just as they do with rabbits or other invasive species."

"Many farmers are erecting big deer proof fences, so it's costing them a lot of money to try and keep them out."

He said deer, which had escaped from farms or been released, meant the population was spreading from the north-east to the southern parts of the state.

Council chief executive Andrew Cox said the 'hunter control' method of tackling the problem wasn't working.

It put barriers in the way of those who weren't hunters, but who wished to tackle the problem.

"The government's strategy represents quite a significant shift in thinking, but we don't think it goes far enough," Mr Cox said.

'There are constraints on hunters in the traditional deer farming areas, so they can't control deer like other pest animals.

"Farmers still have to ask permission to remove deer."

The draft proposes three distinct zones where populations will be managed for continued sustainable hunting, a second area which will act as a buffer to the remainder of the state where populations will eventually be eradicated.

Mr Cox said the eradication zone should also be extended to cover the World Heritage Area and national parks.

"If they are fair dinkum, just get on with it.

"The earlier we get on with it the better because the projections are that we are going to have a million deer by 2050."