Study into deer numbers

TASMANIA’S fallow deer population has blown out to a point where it can no longer be ignored and could eventually reach 1 million, Chris Johnson from the University of Tasmania’s School of Natural Sciences, warned yesterday.

Professor Johnson, who will lead a study announced yesterday to analyse the distribution of deer, said it was time to address “the threats posed by fallow deer to unique and sensitive environments in Tasmania, in particular the World Heritage Area”.

UTAS researchers will conduct the study in partnership with the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment and in collaboration with the NSW Department of Primary Industries, Tasmanian Land Conservatory Inc, Bush Heritage Australia and the University of Auckland.

Prof Johnson said the study would help policy makers to decide what had to be done about deer, which in the past decade had spread beyond midlands grazing areas.

“We want to gain a greater understanding of the number of fallow deer, where the animals are, where incursions begin and where to focus suppression,’’ he said.

Prof Johnson said estimates put the total population up to 40,000. He said modelling by his team suggested there could one day be a million deer without population growth management. “The increase that we have seen in numbers has hit a point where we cannot ignore it anymore,” he said.

Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association president Wayne Johnston said farmers wanted the assessment completed as soon as possible.