19/11/2024
On Friday, 17th November, the South Australian government released its “Strategic Plan for the South Australian Feral (sic) Deer Eradication Program 2022-32”.
This is on the back of the latest escalation in South Australia’s program, where local landholders have helicopters flying over their property shooting deer without permission, and with the ominous threat of fines and costs of helicopters being lumped on them if they fail to comply with government demands.
Such a plan was imminent and would always feature the same buzzword bingo that has become well-known in the anti-deer space, such as road and public safety. It should be noted that in South Australia, according to the BDO economic research, only three deer-related car crashes occur each year. Compare this to Kangaroo, when in 2018-19 had 1,670 claims, and the just-released data showing a 32 per cent increase in September and October compared to last year; between 2020-21-22, nearly 85 per cent of car crashes involved kangaroos, followed by dogs, emus, and wombats.
In perhaps a telling glimpse into the future, the plan references the need to achieve a 60-65% population reduction in the first two years of the program (2022-23), whilst PIRSA figures suggest they managed to shoot as little as 18% in the first year.
In what could be considered a full circle moment and perhaps the pinnacle of the ultimate gravy train, the doomed-to-fail plan attempts to justify its existence by suggesting that it is aligned with the National Feral (sic) Deer Action Plan 2023-2028, which of course, was mostly written out of, South Australia. Huzzah!
Continuing this theme, the plan references the development of a toxic bait overseen by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions Biosecurity Division.
The plan does not mention social licence when referring to toxic baits, perhaps realising that even that was a bridge too far. It is also worth noting in a submission on the National Feral (sic) Deer Action Plan Draft, the anti-hunting RSPCA stated, “It is imperative that inhumane toxins are not considered as potential candidates for this work, in particular 1080, which is heavily relied upon for control of other pest species.”
As a result of this immature response to managing wild deer, South Australia continues to be the odd one out in Australia; no other state is wasting taxpayer dollars attempting to eradicate wild deer from their state.
What could be the best demonstration of how out-of-touch the current attitude towards wild deer in South Australia is by comparing it to the announcement on the same day in Tasmania by the Primary Industry Minister, who published the results of an economic survey of recreational deer hunting in the state. Tasmania is now the third state in Australia to conduct such research, with 29.3 million dollars and 223 full-time jobs generated and created by recreational deer hunting.
Whilst a growing cohort of states are moving towards a maturing of management regarding wild deer, it appears South Australia still has a way to go and millions of taxpayers’ money to burn first.