16-03-2025
Warning as Aussie homeowners face 'avalanche' of destructive invasive species
Despite years of culling and government funded eradication efforts, locals say they are facing an "avalanche" of feral invaders that are wreaking havoc in their properties and gardens as well as causing a serious threat on roads.
Feral dears numbers in South Australia are said to be rising with homeowners capturing the animals trampling through their backyards not far from the city. It's a crisis that other states are dealing with but residents in greater Adelaide were hoping to avoid as future funding for eradication
Feral deer breed fast and a small population can quickly get out of control. Local man Mac Benoy says that's what appears to be happening.
"We've never had anything like it," he said of the impact they're having on his property in Mount Osmond.
"All of a sudden this year it's been like an avalanche coming through. All the neighbours are complaining about the impacts the deer are having on their garden," he told 7News.
He said their presence has really only boomed in the area since the start of the year and believes their breeding grounds can even be found near major roads, saying it's a matter of time until they cause more road accidents.
Residents aer being urged to report sightings with DeerScan, either online or via its free app.
It's estimated that there are about 40,000 feral deer in the state, but that number has the potential to grow at about 35 per cent a year. Some 20,000 have been killed in the government's eradication program since 2022, but experts say removing 15,000 a year would only keep the population stable.
Funding for eradication efforts in the state is due to end in the middle of 2025 with advocates like the Invasive Species Council calling for the cull rate to double.
"As deer have spread into urban areas around Sydney and Melbourne they have threatened the lives of motorists, destroyed gardens, contaminated critical water catchments and damaged the few remaining patches of urban bushland," former advocacy director Jack Gough said in November.
"This is a future Adelaide can avoid if this plan is properly funded and implemented."
Speaking to Yahoo News recently, Jack warned that if the problem gets out of control, it can even impact the price we pay for car insurance.
"They have an impact on road users, they cause degradation of the environment and they have a negative impact on agriculture. And in the city, it's about the impact they have in digging up people's gardens and sending people's car insurance premiums higher," he told Yahoo.
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While the wild animals can be found across most of Australia, they are in largest numbers in the eastern parts of Victoria and New South Wales, where they are spreading at a "huge speed", and as a result, turning up in suburban gardens.
"The numbers in southeast Australia have gone from about 200,000 to about 2 million in the last two decades. So a tenfold increase over that two-decade period," he said.
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