VNPA leads a new joint letter calling for the unprotection of feral deer and instead list them as a pest.

Sent to the Victorian Agriculture and Environment Ministers, the letter is backed by over 100 academics, land managers and national, state and regional community and conservation groups.

Signatories call on the ministers to use the current Wildlife Act review as an opportunity to ‘unprotect’ deer, that are currently protected under the state’s wildlife laws despite being an introduced species. This action, the letter says, will create clarity for impacted land managers, communities and businesses and “reflect reality as we move to seriously control the impact of what has become a serious pest”.

The signatories raise serious concerns that keeping deer a ‘protected species’ under the Wildlife Act sabotages the kind of effective actions the Victorian Government needs to take to reduce deer numbers and damage.

 

Read or download the open letter

Signatories include:

  • Matt Ruchel, Executive Director, Victorian National Parks Association
  • Andrew Cox, Chief Executive Officer, Invasive Species Council
  • Rebecca Spindler, PhD Executive Manager – Science and Conservation, Bush Heritage Australia
  • Richard Francis, President, Vertebrate Pest Managers Association of Australia
  • Maxwell Campbell, President, Field Naturalists Club of Victoria Inc.
  • Amy Kirk, Animal Damage Program Manager, HVP Plantations, Myrtleford
  • Cr Jude Dwight, Mayor, Knox City Council
  • Joan Liley, Fish Creek Landcare Cape Liptrap Deer Control Group & farmer adjoining Cape Liptrap Coastal Park
  • Gordon Ley, President, Entomological Society of Victoria
  • Peter Jacobs, Retired Alps Chief Ranger and Executive Officer, Victorian Deer Control Community Network
  • Janet Hagen, Strathbogie Ranges Conservation Management Network & Hughes Creek Catchment Collaborative Landcare Network
  • Raewyn Jeganathan, Wildlife Shelter Operator, Waratah Wildlife Shelter
  • Andrew Borg, Facilitator, Buloke and Northern Grampians Landcare Network
  • Professor Brendan Wintle, Lead Councillor, Biodiversity Council. Director, Melbourne Biodiversity Institute University of Melbourne
  • Professor Emerita Lesley Hughes (Hon FRSB), Pro-Chancellor, Macquarie University
  • Patrick O’Connor , Associate Professor Economics and Public Policy, University of Adelaide
  • Professor Euan Ritchie Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Deakin University and the Biodiversity Council
  • Amanda Breidahl BVSc (Hons) MVS MVSc, Concerned conservationist and registered veterinarian with further degrees in Wildlife Medicine Concerned landholder, Member, Main Creek Catchment Landcare Committee
  • Doug Lee, Land owner/manager Boorolite, Life Member, Australasian Native Orchid Society (Vic Group) Inc.
  • Bronwyn and Peter Lowe, Land owners, Jamieson
  • Sally Sheppard, Land owner and timber plantation owner
  • Alexandra Larkey & Daniel Larkey, Rural land owners, farmers & concerned citizen Taggerty
  • Tom Guthrie, Land owner (sheep and grapes) bordering Grampi-ans (Gariwerd) NP former Chairman, National Parks Advisory Council
  • James Templeton, Conservation Project Manager & Ecologist Conservation Ecology Centre