Funding for South Australia’s feral deer eradication program is due to run out mid-2025 as stakeholders warn that recent culling figures do not account for ongoing breeding and ultimately amount to little more than “sustainable harvesting”.
SA Environment Minister Susan Close last week said the SA Feral Deer Eradication Program (SAFDEP) had reached a milestone by removing 20,000 from an estimated population of 40,000 since 2022.
While the state’s south-east is a key region for culling, about 5,500 were removed from the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Landscape region, including 175 from the Brownhill Creek and Mitcham Hills area adjacent to suburban Adelaide.
Invasive Species Council advocacy director Jack Gough said deer numbers increased by between 35 per cent and 50 per cent a year, meaning that to really “crash the population” the removal rate needed to double.
“So if there were 40,000 two years ago, you need to be removing in the order of 15,000 a year just to keep the population stable,” he said.
“The numbers always have to be related to the population growth because, otherwise, you basically just end up sustainably harvesting the population.
“None of this should be seen as criticism. What the SA government is proposing is nation-leading and is super exciting and the commitment they’re showing is huge.
“They need some significant funding.”
Hunters removed 175 deer from the Adelaide foothills. (Supplied: Landscape SA)
The 11-year SAFDEP is a partnership between the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA), SA Landscape boards, SA Water, Forestry SA, Livestock SA, and the Department for Environment and Water.
It was jointly funded in 2022 with $5 million over four years by the state and federal governments, as well as the landscape boards and the livestock industry.
The SA government contributed $2 million.
“We are now almost four years into the SA Feral Deer Eradication Program, which has been planned over a total of 11 years,” a state government spokesperson said.
“Having demonstrated that safe and effective methods of deer culling are rapidly decreasing deer numbers, PIRSA and several landscape boards are working with the state and federal governments and the SA livestock industry to explore funding opportunities to build on the success of the program.”
Calls for $14 million
Those working in the program have said it needed $14 million over the 11 years of the program to be effective.
“When it comes to managing feral animal populations the key is always to front-load the eradication,” Mr Gough said.
“You’ll be much more likely to be successful and you will save a lot of money in the long run.
“So that’s a key priority for us, in the lead-up to the federal election and also to next year’s state budget, for both to be committing significantly increased money because there’s no more money from June 2025.”
Peri-urban eradication plan launched
The state government and Landscape SA Hills and Fleurieu today released a Greater Adelaide Peri-urban Feral Deer Eradication Plan to a group of stakeholders in the city.
South Australian fallow deer destroy a malleefowl nest. (Photo: Supplied Lee Williams)
Its goal is to eradicate all deer from the 200,000-hectare zone by 2032 and aims for a 60 per cent cull rate early in the program.
Landscape levies will be a major component in order to fund operations on private land.
The program will include regular audits of deer farm fences and could include compliance tools for landholders who refuse to participate in cross-tenure control programs.
The plan warns that if only 15 per cent of the deer population is removed each year, their numbers in the Greater Adelaide area will grow from 2,000 to 7,000 over the next decade (and to 10,000 without any control).
It was prepared by the Peri-Urban Feral Deer Working Group, and stakeholders are expected to bid for greater funding from governments to meet its targets.
Eradication a ‘priority’
Ms Close said feral deer were one of Australia’s worst pests in peri-urban and rural areas where they cost primary producers an estimated $36 million in annual productivity losses.
She said removing 20,000 was equivalent to removing the grazing pressure of 30,000 sheep from the state’s pastures, crops, and native vegetation.
“Eradicating feral deer is a priority for the SA government, particularly in areas where feral deer densities and impacts are greatest such as the Limestone Coast, Northern and Yorke, and Hills and Fleurieu regions,” Ms Close said.
Eradication was considered feasible in SA due to its relatively small population of the pest, but Ms Close said the program had been getting strong interest from across the border.
In the eastern states, feral deer numbers had exploded to up to 2 million.
