Take action Victoria

Victoria has some of the rarest plants and animals in Australia. Home to the endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, as well as the platypus and the helmeted honeyeater, the unique plants and animals found in Victoria’s national parks help make up what makes Australia unique.

Unfortunately in Victoria, there are an estimated 1 million feral deer that are wreaking havoc across our national parks. With adult deer having no natural predators, their numbers continue to explode. And what makes matters worse, feral deer in Victoria have a protection status that can hinder park rangers from doing their jobs and controlling feral deer numbers.

Recreational deer hunting is not an effective control strategy and feral deer shouldn’t be treated as protected wildlife under Victorian law, which they currently are. This means feral deer receive the same protections as Victoria’s wallabies, wombats and koalas.

This is why urgent action is needed. And the window of opportunity for change is wide open with the rapidly approaching Victorian election this November. Please submit an urgent email to your local MP calling for the removal of the protection status of feral deer as well as calling for an increase of funding to enable effective control.

With the damage caused by the expanding plague of feral deer, every day counts. We can still save our precious native plants and animals but we need to act now.

Victoria has some of the rarest plants and animals in Australia. Home to the endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, as well as the platypus and the helmeted honeyeater, the unique plants and animals found in Victoria’s national parks help make up what makes Australia unique.

Unfortunately in Victoria, there are an estimated 1 million feral deer that are wreaking havoc across our national parks. With adult deer having no natural predators, their numbers continue to explode. And what makes matters worse, feral deer in Victoria have a protection status that can hinder park rangers from doing their jobs and controlling feral deer numbers.

Recreational deer hunting is not an effective control strategy and feral deer shouldn’t be treated as protected wildlife under Victorian law, which they currently are. This means feral deer receive the same protections as Victoria’s wallabies, wombats and koalas.

This is why urgent action is needed. And the window of opportunity for change is wide open with the rapidly approaching Victorian election this November. Please submit an urgent email to your local MP calling for the removal of the protection status of feral deer as well as calling for an increase of funding to enable effective control.

With the damage caused by the expanding plague of feral deer, every day counts. We can still save our precious native plants and animals but we need to act now.

Take action to stop feral deer spreading across Victoria

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Subject:

I am writing to you as a member of your electorate who is extremely concerned about the growing threat of feral deer to Victoria’s native wildlife, ecosystems and primary industries.

Feral deer do a huge amount of damage to Victoria’s native wildlife and ecosystems - they trample, graze and degrade important habitats that didn’t evolve under the pressure of hard-hoofed invasive species. They ring-bark and kill young trees and foul waterways, causing erosion and water quality issues across the state.

Feral deer are also a major agricultural pest, grazing and trampling farmlands and crops, impacting forest plantations and are a major risk factor for the transmission of livestock diseases - such as foot-and-mouth disease. They are also a growing risk to Victorian drivers due to increasing road collisions. We know that feral deer will cost the Victorian economy up to $2.2 billion over the next 30 years unless action is taken.

Experts estimate that there are now at least 1 million deer across the state, eclipsing the numbers of platypus, Leadbeater’s possum and greater gliders that currently exist in Victoria.

Action must be taken before it’s too late.

It is shocking that in Victoria, feral deer have protected wildlife status. In 2022, we cannot continue down this path and prioritise feral animals at the cost of our unique native ones.

Removing protections for feral deer as wildlife will not stop recreational hunting. It will simply make professional management of feral deer more effective and efficient.

It is also vital that there is more investment in professional and coordinated control programs

I am writing to seek your commitment to ensuring effective control of feral deer in Victoria. It is critical that this includes the removal of the protected wildlife status of feral deer and increasing the funding available for effective and efficient professional deer control.

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