Deer Masterclass in Jindabyne

May 2019

Kylie Challen, Biosecurity Coordinator

As many of you may be aware, wild deer are increasing in numbers around the NSW South East with negative impacts to many land managers, and the broader community. Wild deer are now considered a priority pest in our region.

As Andrew Michelin (Senior Biosecurity Officer for the Far South Coast) advised in last month’s circular “wild deer don’t belong in this environment, they compete for feed with livestock, they are a threat to local native environments and can pose a threat in emergency animal disease outbreaks”.

Recently, 15 members of the South East Biosecurity team recently attended a Deer Masterclass in the Jindabyne area. The course was provided by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), with presentations from subject matter experts (from Australia and New Zealand) covering a number of key elements including new technologies, trapping and management techniques.

Training opportunities such as the DPI Deer Masterclass are an important step in building our staff capacity in deer management and to ensure our local land managers and community receive the best and most recent advice on how to manage wild deer.

If you are seeing wild deer on your property (even just a few), do not ignore them. In time they may pose a significant impact on your livelihood or those around you.

I will take this opportunity once again, to remind everyone about the FeralScan app. It’s a great tool that allows land managers and members of the community to report pest animal sightings/activity.

This data is so valuable to Local Land Services. It assists us with planning pest management, particularly the protection of assets in the South East including livestock, water quality, endangered species and our economy.

So please, visit the FeralScan website today, and download the app www.feralscan.org.au .