The Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer Management Plan 2022-27 sets contemporary objectives for managing wild fallow deer in Tasmania over the next five years.
The Plan aims to:
- minimise the wild fallow deer population in areas with significant natural values, and in peri-urban areas
- address the economic, environmental and public safety impacts associated with the growth and increased distribution of deer populations in Tasmania
- recognise that deer are an important recreational hunting resource.
Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer Implementation Strategy
In September 2022 the Tasmanian Government released the Implementation Strategy underpinning the Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer Management Plan.
The Implementation Strategy sets out clear objectives to manage the agricultural, commercial, environmental and public safety impacts associated with deer populations in Tasmania.
Both the Management Plan and the underpinning implementation strategy have been developed through extensive stakeholder engagement with key associations and peak bodies to ensure the Government has a balanced and supported framework.
Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer Management Implementation Strategy (PDF 361Kb)
Tasmanian Deer Take Numbers Report 2015-2023
NRE Tas has collated take returns from 2015 to 2023 into one space. All data has been gathered from the annual Game Tracks publications. The numbers presented are as received from licence/permit holders at the time they were collated for the Game Tracks publication. Therefore, some numbers may be subject to change, as new take returns are received. The method of data collection for deer harvest is being refined to more accurately estimate the current deer population in Tasmania. Reported estimates should therefore not be definitively relied upon and numbers may be subject to increase or decrease.
Background
Key steps in the development of the Plan
The Plan has been developed through a staged approach, which included extensive stakeholder and community consultation.
- Targeted stakeholder consultation – key stakeholders including the Tasmanian Game Council, Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, hunting groups, conservationists, foresters and the general community provided input into the Draft Plan.
- Public forums – over 200 people attended public forums at Bothwell, Longford, Ulverstone, Brighton and St Marys.
- Release of the Draft Plan for comment – community members and groups from across the state had the opportunity to provide input through written submissions, community forums and one-on-one conversations. Feedback was also sought on potential actions and priorities to inform development of the Implementation Strategy.
- Release of the Final Plan – more than 300 submissions were received during the public consultation period, helping to inform the development of the final Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer Management Plan.
- Release of the Implementation Strategy – the Department prepared an Implementation Strategy outlining the specific timelines, priorities, actions, resourcing requirements and evaluation/reporting processes to ensure that the five-year Plan is delivered.
Written submissions on the Draft Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer Management Plan
The Draft Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer Management Plan was released for community consultation in October 2021. The Department received more than 300 written submissions within the consultation period, which ended on 3 December 2021. Some stakeholders also provided verbal feedback on the Draft Plan.
Verbal feedback from the community consultation workshops was reviewed and considered, in the development of the final plan. However, this feedback has not been captured as a formal document for release.
Please note: some content in the submissions has been redacted in accordance with the Tasmanian Government Public Submissions Policy.
Further information
Game Services Tasmania
Phone: 1300 292 292
Email: DeerManagementPlan@nre.tas.gov.au