Parts of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area will be closed for just over a month from the end of April for the next phase of a deer culling program.
Undertaken by Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS), the deer control project aims to safeguard the state’s unique wilderness from wild fallow deer.
The aerial shooting program will utilise thermal technology to detect, track and kill deer from a helicopter in both the Walls of Jerusalem National Park and parts of the Central Plateau Conservation Area from April 29.
“Wild fallow deer are a threat to the natural values of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, our flagship landscape,” PWS Pest Control Programs Manager Rob Buck said.
“The best way to make these landscapes resilient to climate change is to remove the pressures that exist on the environment from introduced species, so that the environment has the maximum chance of adapting.”
In the most recent mass eradication effort in May 2023, over 700 deer were culled in just 21 days.
PWS estimates that approximately 300 deer remain in the Wilderness World Heritage Area.
“The success of the program is underpinned by the highest animal welfare standards,” Buck said, noting that a qualified veterinarian will independently oversee the program.
Aerial shooting operations will once again be carried out by “highly trained and experienced” Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania staff, ensuring that animals are “controlled as humanely as possible”.
