There are growing calls to declare feral deer a pest in Victoria, as growing populations continue to destroy crops and farm fencing.
In June the Victorian government released two regional deer control plans for the east and west of the state, which encouraged a biosecurity-type approach, advocated further community engagement and encouraged further monitoring.
But Invasive Species Council deer project officer Peter Jacobs said while the $4.4 million year plan were welcome, the removal of the protected species status for deer the state's Wildlife Protection Act would be far more effective.
"One of the issues around protecting deer is they have been protected for about 150 years ago for hunting then and for game, and numbers have certainly gone well past anything that couldn't be considered game now," he said.
Mr Jacobs said the law did allow some workarounds where private landowners and public land mangers could undertake deer control with permits.
But he said the removal of those protections, which ensure there are enough deer left for the enjoyment of recreational hunters, would not mean it would be an end to deer hunting.
"It's still a recreation that people enjoy, but hunting isn't a control program, and we need to get serious about deer, stop protecting them and see them for what they are," he said.
A report released in 2022 by Frontier Economics, which was commissioned by the Invasive Species Council, found rising deer populations could cost Victorians between $1.5-2.2 billion over the next 30 years if nothing was done.
Protection, containment and asset protection were identified as three controls, while local elimination of deer will also be targeted in remote and isolated regions using strategic on-ground and aerial shooting programs and fencing.
Mr Jacobs said it was also important to protect natural assets of the state like the Grampians, Wilsons Promontory, or other isolated farming areas.
"Feral deer have pretty much spread across 40 per cent of the state, with most of eastern Victoria covered so our focus there is containing and protecting those areas, whether they're biodiversity assets such as our Alpine peaks or agricultural assets, such as vineyards, orchards, or grazing areas."
The Conservation Ecology Centre (CEC) based in Cape Otway, has undertaken a research approach in recent years that includes one-on-one and group community engagement sessions.
Conservation project manager for CEC James Templeton said the centre have recorded the incursion of two new species - the Hog Deer and Sambar Deer, as well as rising numbers of Fallow Deer and Red Deer populations.
"Deer are having major impacts on the ecosystem, natural resources and agriculture in the Otways," he said.
"We have seen countless river banks and streams being eroded from deer walking their banks. Larger trees have been stripped of their bark, small trees completely thrashed, and there are untold impacts on seedlings by deer browsing and trampling."
He said monitoring cameras have also captured deer with fencing wire tangled in their antlers, while landholders wanting to revegetate their properties have reported deer destroying their efforts.
The CEC fully supported the west Victoria deer control plans and tools like the Feral Scan app - where users can record sightings of feral animals - had huge benefits.
Prior to the introduction of the app, only 17 community reports related to deer in the Otways were recorded between 2010-2020.
"Since the beginning of this project in January 2021 to June 2023, there have been over 154 community reports relating to deer throughout the Otways region showing a significant increase in the use of Feral Scan within the community," he said.
Mr Templeton said networking between field harvesters and local Landcare networks so that landholders have a professional and reliable option to control deer populations gave extra incentive for harvesters.
"These harvesters weren't accredited to harvest deer at the beginning of this project but had the desire to pursue that type of work," Mr Templeton said.
"Between January 2022 and April 2023, one harvester controlled a total of 627 deer across 17 locations."
