Review of the management of feral animals and their impact on ...

conservation problems in Europe <strong>and</strong> North America, <strong>and</strong> <strong>feral</strong> deer are highly
destructive in New Zeal<strong>and</strong>
Economic damage caused by deer is serious <strong>and</strong> includes severe damage to grape
vines <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r crops <strong>and</strong> sapling trees in forestry plots. Deer also act as hosts for
screw worms, brucellosis <strong>and</strong> bovine tuberculosis, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>se would become
significant concerns if large herds developed in nor<strong>the</strong>rn Australia. Deer in Australia
have <strong>of</strong>ten become troublesome enough to require culling, with culls <strong>of</strong> fallow deer
dating back to <strong>the</strong> 19 th century.
Moriarty (2004) did bioclimatic modelling <strong>and</strong> found that all <strong>of</strong> Australia’s deer
species could greatly increase <strong>the</strong>ir range. They can easily leap over fences designed
for cattle, <strong>and</strong> when <strong>the</strong>y are not properly fed <strong>the</strong>y can surmount deer fences as well.
Chital could occupy most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Rangel<strong>and</strong>s, <strong>and</strong> sambar <strong>and</strong> hog deer could invade a
broad swa<strong>the</strong> across nor<strong>the</strong>rn Australia. Although many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> areas likely to be
invaded by deer would be <strong>of</strong> low environmental value, o<strong>the</strong>rs could be very
significant. Habitats utilised by deer include rainforest, mangroves, freshwater
wetl<strong>and</strong>s, open forests, woodl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> grassl<strong>and</strong>s. Deer contribute to <strong>the</strong> <strong>impact</strong>s
created by o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>feral</strong> <strong>animals</strong> <strong>and</strong> by livestock including total grazing pressure.
Many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>feral</strong> deer populations within <strong>the</strong> Rangel<strong>and</strong>s should be <strong>and</strong> could be
eradicated. The maps created by Moriarty from his surveys show that some deer
populations are small <strong>and</strong> highly isolated from o<strong>the</strong>rs. Rusa deer are represented by
just three widely separated populations in <strong>the</strong> Rangel<strong>and</strong>s, one near Townsville
(containing fewer than a hundred deer), one west <strong>of</strong> Mackay, <strong>and</strong> one near
Rockhampton. The nearest rusa to <strong>the</strong>se occur near Brisbane. Chital in Queensl<strong>and</strong>
are represented by two populations in <strong>the</strong> Gulf, <strong>and</strong> by o<strong>the</strong>rs west <strong>of</strong> Rockhampton
that are far removed from <strong>the</strong> main Charters Towers population, which is largely kept
in check by hunting (P. Jesser pers. comm.).
In a Queensl<strong>and</strong> Government report, Jesser (2005) proposed that all deer colonies
found outside <strong>the</strong>ir historic range in Queensl<strong>and</strong> be declared class one pests, which
would oblige l<strong>and</strong>holders to eradicate <strong>the</strong>m. If his recommendation is adopted in
Queensl<strong>and</strong>, more than 23 populations <strong>of</strong> deer within <strong>the</strong> Queensl<strong>and</strong> Rangel<strong>and</strong>s
would be eradicated, <strong>and</strong> only one population would remain – <strong>the</strong> chital colony near
Charters Towers, which dates back to 1886. Hunting associations support <strong>the</strong> idea <strong>of</strong>
eradicating new deer colonies (P. Jesser, pers. comm.). The peak grazier organisation,
Agforce, presumably supports eradication as well, because <strong>the</strong>y have called upon <strong>the</strong>
Queensl<strong>and</strong> Government to declare deer as pest species. In 2003, Agforce Cattle
president Peter Kenny described <strong>the</strong>m as a major threat to beef cattle production
because <strong>the</strong>y hosted cattle ticks <strong>and</strong> damaged vegetation.
7.1.2 Camels
Various experts spoken to for this report nominated camels as a major emerging
concern (P. Copley, K. Saalfield, P. Mason, P. Kendrick, G. Edwards, P. Latz pers.
comm.). Camels were also nominated as a worsening problem by several l<strong>and</strong>
managers surveyed in Western Australia <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Territory. Camels are
reported to be increasing in numbers <strong>and</strong> exp<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>the</strong>ir range almost everywhere
<strong>the</strong>y occur (Section 3). Increases were reported from Western Australia, South
Australia, Queensl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Territory. Some experts contend that <strong>the</strong>se
changes are only a response to drought or, alternatively, a run <strong>of</strong> good years (D.
Rol<strong>and</strong>s, M. Lapwood pers. comm.) but <strong>the</strong> reports <strong>of</strong> multiplying camels are so
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