Submission
Wild feral deer are a significant threat to the natural values of Tasmania’s unique and valuable national parks and protected areas. The TNPA’s most immediate concern is the encroachment of wild feral deer into the eastern Central Plateau where wet ecological communities are at particular risk of trampling damage.
The draft Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer Management Plan does not put sufficient emphasis on the exclusion of wild feral deer from this area. A related concern is that feral deer control on reserved land must be undertaken by the managing authority in the most efficient manner possible (i.e. feral deer control is not delegated to unsupervised recreational shooters).
While there are some positive initiatives in the draft Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer Management Plan, we recommend a range of modifications and inclusions in the Plan. Fundamentally, wild deer should be managed as an invasive species and biosecurity risk.
The Tasmanian National Parks Association offers an independent voice for Tasmania’s national parks and reserves, to ensure they are managed for the conservation of the values for which they were proclaimed.