Hunters needed to control feral deer

The Game Council says it’s looking for licensed hunters to help control feral deer in semi urban areas of NSW.

Game Council Chairman Robert Borsak said that this would reduce associated environmental and population problems as well as minimising traffic and helping the small country towns currently battling rural recession.

“We already have nearly 10, 000 licensed hunters in NSW who have removed thousands of wild deer from private land, semi urban areas and declared state forests - and at the same time these hunters pump $40 million a year into regional areas,” he said.

Wild deer are declared a game animal in NSW under the Game and Feral Animal Control Act of 2002 and can be removed by hunters with a Game Council licence, under a system that Mr Borsak describes as bringing in significant tourism income to the state.

“New Zealand tried the pest animal approach by government departments for over 70 years with professional hunters and widespread 1080 poisoning - it didn’t work. Now they are establishing their own Big Game Hunting Council and going back to managing wild deer as a game species and using hunters to help control their populations. We need to learn from their example,” he said.

For more information contact Game Council NSW on (02) 6360 5111 or go to www.gamecouncil.
nsw.gov.au

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