Feral deer entering new areas of SA as culling ramps up

Feral deer are on the move on the Limestone Coast, travelling further south than before.

The Limestone Coast Landscape Board, which has been leading eradication efforts for feral deer in the region, noticed a shift of animal locations during its autumn operation.

General manager Steve Bourne said it was clear deer had expanded across a larger area.

“We did a little trial down in the Wattle Range region last year, and we found big numbers there, much more than we were expecting,” Mr Bourne said.

“So we expanded the program this year … and found really significant numbers around the Penola area.”

Mr Bourne said it was likely the area was expanding because there were more of them than before.

“It is just a scale of numbers,” he said.

“We estimate there was perhaps 24,000 in South Australia and a large proportion of those within our region.”

Livestock SA project manager Pene Keynes said feral deer had a broad ranging impact for landowners.

“For a lot of landowners, they really are a problem around competing for pastures, and they can cause environmental damage and stress,” she said.

“There is the broader public problems as well, they are a hazard on roads and any increasing numbers can cause vehicle collisions.”

Large operation

More than 2,000 deer were culled during autumn, but Mr Bourne said it was not yet clear how much of an impact the program was having.

“We are optimistic that we can make a really significant impact in this feral population and really start driving it down,” Mr Bourne said.

“We will get a better idea of numbers as we continue our eradication efforts and see if we are actually getting on top of it.”

More than 477,942 hectares of the region’s private property, forest reserves and conservation parks were covered using aerial and ground shooting along with Conservation Wildlife Management SA volunteers.

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Limestone Coast Landscape Board feral deer project officer Bart Peters said an increased landholder involvement in the program would hopefully lead to improved results.

“An increase of 40 per cent more landholders signed up to participate in the 2023 autumn operation compared to 2022 demonstrates the community’s commitment,” Mr Peters said.

Two community sessions will be held on the program next week in Penola and Kingston.

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