Wild deer could result in economic drain, report reveals

Wild deer could cost Tasmania up to $1.4 billion over the next 30 years unless the government ramps up control efforts. new economic modelling has found.

A report by Frontier Economics states that wild deer in the Midlands and East Coast are currently costing Tasmania more than $53 million per year.

The modelling found that the biggest economic impacts include lost agricultural productivity, damage to forestry, and deer-related vehicle crashes.

Invasive Species Council conservation officer Tiana Pirtle said that the report stated that the yearly costs of deer in the Midlands and eastern regions could blow out to as high as $298.3 million per year.

“This report does not quantify the enormous environmental damage feral deer are causing to Tasmania’s bushland, threatened species habitat, waterways and culturally significant landscapes,” Ms Pirtle said.

“This billion-dollar warning is actually an underestimate, given the modelling was only for part of the state and did not quantify all impacts.

“Feral deer are exploding across the landscape – trashing and trampling bushland and crops, smashing fences and causing dangerous road crashes.

“Feral deer numbers just in Tasmania’s Midlands and eastern regions alone could surge from around 71,000 today to more than 667,000 by 2054.”

Ms Pirtle said the current approach in Tasmania to managing deer as a hunting resource was not working.

“That means properly funding coordinated, long-term deer control across public and private land, removing outdated protections and game management settings that continue to entrench deer populations, tightening deer farm regulations to reduce escapes and releases, and treating feral deer as the serious invasive species threat they are.”

Midlands-based ecologist Kerry Bridle said the region has suffered a dramatic decline in biodiversity – in part because of wild deer.

“Feral deer are increasing the cost of regeneration,” he said.

“It now costs about $30 to protect a single sapling from feral deer.

“This is almost 10 times higher than the amount allocated in grants awarded using public funds for biodiversity protection.

“This means that landholders must pay the shortfall to ensure our forests will persist into the future, providing habitat for native wildlife and shade and shelter for livestock.”

TasFarmers CEO Nathan Calman said the growing deer population in Tasmania is a significant and unfair burden for the state’s primary producers.

“The current deer management plan has not slowed the population growth or spread of the population in the state,” he said.

“Recent changes announced are meaningful in cutting red tape; however, without further reform, they will not put downward pressure on the population.

“Deer must have their partially protected status removed as a first logical step in targeting meaningful population reduction.”