Deer hunting failure prompts new research into baiting and trapping methods to stop deer 'plague'
The NSW Government has announced a $9 million deer control program, which it says will be on a scale unlike anything that has been tried anywhere in Australia.National Parks and Wildlife Service will deliver the pilot research project that will pioneer untried deer control techniques.
Trapping and baiting, feeder and lures will be tried and evaluated, supplementing existing ground-based shooting control methods.
The research program will also invest heavily in monitoring and deer behaviour analysis as well as aerial culling.
A report by the Natural Resources Commission in 2017 showed over a four-year period from 2005–2009, the deer population increased by 30 per cent across NSW.
The report also warned that without a change in regulation, the feral animal could run wild across the entire state.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the additional funding would operate across public and private land.
"Nothing of this scale has been undertaken anywhere else in Australia," Mr Barilaro said.
"Deer don't care who owns the land they inhabit, and all land managers need to work together to tackle this growing problem."
Hunting has failed
Ted Rowley, a beef cattle producer whose farm lies adjacent to the Kosciuszko National Park, said the deer were in plague-like proportions.
Working alongside his five neighbours and with the assistance of a commercial shooter, Mr Rowley shot 5,000 deer in 2018.
However, without an investment in monitoring and research, Mr Rowley said it was difficult to know whether his efforts would reduce to total population.
"We don't know whether that is enough to manage the population, whether it reduces it, or if we are long way short," he said.
"Deer are really smart and they learn really fast — hunting has failed to control the deer population and that's been demonstrated over a long period of time.https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-02-28/deer-mangement-plan-launched-nsw/10... A farmer who lives next to Kosciuszko National Park claims hunting has failed when hunting is not allowed in that national park.
National parks are a sanctuary for feral pests in NSW perhaps we should allow hunters to shoot ferals in them like they do across the border in Victoria.
With that many deer near our southern border perhaps we should be harvesting this free range Venison instead of wasting it by poisoning them with 1080 which is cruel and takes up to 4 days to kill them.
No hunting in National parks in NSW thanks to the bedwetting hoplophobes who prefer these feral pests die a slow horrible death by 1080 poison.
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NSW Gov spends $9 Million feral deer control (Read 1102 times)
