Landcare Network release new deer control resource kit

SOUTH Gippsland Landcare Network have released a Deer Management Information and Resource Pack to assist landholders in South Gippsland to better understand and tackle the growing feral deer problem. 

The release of the pack follows a series of community meetings and events around Mt Best and Cape Liptrap at which concerned landholders, deer experts and shooters discussed the impacts deer are having, their high reproduction rates and the need for urgent and sustained control.

Some important facts, presented at Mt Best Hall by Shannon Evendon from the National Deer Management Coordination Team, are:
• Deer populations double every two years with no control. 
• Feral deer have almost doubled their range in the past 20 years.
• To maintain a current population, 34-50 per cent of the population must be culled every year.
• Feral deer consume 1.8 to 3.6 times that of sheep, depending on the deer 
species.
• Areas exposed to high densities of feral deer have 30-70 per cent less understorey.
• Deer consume four times more plant material/day as adult swamp wallabies.

A good representation by shooters at these events also enabled landholders and shooters to discuss what a safe and effective control program looks like, and ways to address illegal shooting. 
Nick Stephens, facilitator with South Gippsland Landcare, stated “We know deer are becoming a bigger and bigger problem in the area, and recreational hunting is just not keeping pace with their reproduction and expansion.”

“It’s pretty scary; we had a field day with ecologists on a property at Cape Liptrap. They were saying ‘Where are all the groundcover plants? Where are the understorey species?’ Everything from the ground to 2m high had been smashed by deer in some areas.” 

“Our aim is to get as many landholders as possible linked up with safe and responsible shooters, or shooting deer themselves as often as possible, especially does (females)”.   
To help this process the digital information pack includes facts on the impacts of deer, ways to monitor deer using your phone and a landholder agreement template (and checklist) to enlist recreational shooters on your land. 

To request a copy of the Info Pack email: nick.stephens@sgln.net.au or go to the ‘Projects’ Page at www.sgln.net.au and look for South Gippsland Deer Action Group.