Calls for SA election commitment to maintain feral deer eradication funding
Deer were once more common on Brown Hill, which looks out of over the Adelaide Plains. (ABC Radio Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton)
In short:
South Australia's Feral Deer Eradication Program was initially funded for four years.
The SA government has committed an additional $1.5 million to keep it going for another year.
What's next?
The Invasive Species Council wants the SA government to commit $1.5 million annually over four years.
A program that has successfully culled more than half of South Australia's feral deer population needs more funding to finish the job, conservationists say.
The 2022-2032 SA Feral Deer Eradication Program started when there were an estimated 40,000 deer in SA, which has since culled by more than 28,000.
Most of the deer are in the state's south-east, but they are also in the Adelaide Hills and foothills, where about 3,000 are believed to be roaming.
The Invasive Species Council wants all major parties contesting the state election to commit more than $1.5 million annually over four years to avoid a "funding cliff" when allocated money for the program runs out at the end of next financial year.
"The program is really successful but the next year is critical because you need to knock that population down and then you can move into the mop-up phase and then the proof of absence phase, and now's the time to do it," senior advocate James Johnston said.
"We're coming up to a funding cliff."
Deer culled in Adelaide
Ron Bellchambers is a community engagement and project officer for the Brownhill Creek Association in Adelaide's foothills, where the program has culled about 300 deer in the past two years.
Ron Bellchambers at a revegetation site that is home to a significant tree. (ABC Radio Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton)
He said that before the eradication program there were "herds of deer going up and down through the park" in the middle of the day.
"The deer do still come at night-time but we've observed the numbers have really dropped away," Mr Bellchambers said.
He said the deer had an "enormous impact in the area", where they competed with native wildlife, trampled native vegetation and revegetation sites, eroded the creek line and ringbarked seedlings with their antlers.
They also contributed to the spread of olive trees through their droppings after eating the fruit.
"Brownhill Creek Recreation Park is a small park — it's only 53 hectares but it has 4 kilometres of Brownhill Creek in it — and it's a really important peri-urban park. It's a gateway to the Adelaide Hills," Mr Bellchambers said.
South Australian fallow deer destroy a Malleefowl nest. (Supplied: Lee Williams)
Boasting threatened grey box grassy woodlands and a colony of the endangered southern brown bandicoot, Mr Bellchambers said it was also habitat for native frogs, yabbies and fish.
"We've been olive clearing now for many decades and have successfully cleared a lot of the olives from the valley floor, but the olives on the steep hillsides are obviously very difficult for volunteers to deal with," he said.
"The feral deer are using the olive groves to hide, and they spread olive seeds through the valley and affect our ability to deal with the introduced olive species."
Mr Bellchambers said the deer shooting program could not occur in the park itself, but on the private properties bordering the park.
"The culling program has been so effective that we've got the numbers down to a very low level, and now's the time to really press home the advantage rather than stopping and letting the numbers build up again," he said.
SA extends funding by one year
The 2022-2032 SA Feral Deer Eradication Program 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.
It can use techniques like ground shooting, aerial shooting — sometimes with thermal assistance — commercial harvesting where numbers are viable, and trapping.
This gully in the Mount Lofty Ranges is riddled with olive trees, in which deer hide. (ABC Radio Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton)
Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven said the removal of more than 28,000 deer since the program started had helped property owners "significantly, and reduced the impact the pest has on primary industries, the environment and safety".
"I recently allocated an additional $1.5 million in state government funding to extend the program by 12 months until June 2027," she said.
"I also continue to work with my federal counterpart, advocating for further Commonwealth support of this vital program."
A 'bridge' in funding
Mr Johnston welcomed the "bridging money" but said it was not enough to get the program over the line.
"We'll be advocating for further funding, and that includes from the federal government and state government," he said.
"You wouldn't build half a bridge, and I hope we don't end up with only half an eradication program."
Loading...A One Nation spokesperson said it backed the management and eradication of invasive species in SA that impacted the natural environment, farming, fishing and forestry industries, which contributed to "more than half of our state's exports".
"One Nation will support ongoing funding of the Feral Deer Eradication Program, however, we'll be advocating [for] a ban on aerial shooting as it is both dangerous and inhumane.
"Our policy calls for licensed shooters to work on the ground to eradicate deer and other feral animals in South Australia."
The spokesperson said SA's biosecurity status was envied because it allowed farmers to access to premium markets closed to interstate farmers and overseas.
"It's essential we do all we can to maintain this status," they said.
The Liberal Party and The Greens were contacted for comment.