Thermal imaging for deer copter monitoring, culling; 10,000 ferals in South Australia; arrive for hunting in 1880

Thermal images (top right) were used to see feral deer in vegetated areas of South Australia's southeast to assist monitoring and culling from helicopters.
Images courtesy Limestone Coast Landscape Board and ABC News, Adelaide.

Thermal imaging cameras were used for the first time in South Australia's southeast region in 2022 to monitor feral deer numbers and eradicate the pests.

The previous aerial culling operation in the region removed about 600 deer from the landscape. The thermal imaging from helicopters made the deer easier to see in wooded areas and aided the deer culling, include aerial shooting.

Limestone Coast Landscape Board feral deer project officer Aidan Laslett said the monitoring would focus predominantly on areas of native vegetation in Keilira, Taratap, Tilley Swamp, Petherick, Bunbury, Deepwater, Salt Creek, Martin Washpool, Bunbury, Gum Lagoon, and Hanson Scrub: "We're really trying to stop them and eradicate them before they get completely out of control." .

Deer could damage fences, competed with livestock for pasture, and potentially spread animal diseases. Their browsing pressure on vegetation impacted the native flora and fauna.

About 10,000 feral deer were estimated by the state agriculture department to be in South Australia in 2019, prompting a new state government policy requiring landowners to destroy any of the animals found on their properties.

A deer control coordinator was appointed to warn landholders about the damage done by increasing numbers of the pest in other areas. Deer farmers have to identify all their deer more than 12 months old with ear tags. New deer farmers also have to build fences at least 1.9 metres tall to keep them in.

Feral deer hotspots included the southeast of the state and the Adelaide Hills but the pests were also seen in low numbers in the mid north region and on the Eyre Peninsula.

Deer were first released in South Australia in 1880 for hunting. Feral deer were eradicated from Kangaroo Island but six species were let loose on the mainland, with fallow and red deer the most common. They have become an agricultural, environmental and social pest. Populations of deer expanded and invaded new areas, partly due to escapes from deer farms, being deliberately introduced by recreational hunters and insufficient control of existing populations. Deer keepers had to notify neighbouring landholders if any escaped.

Deer ate native plants, trample saplings, and rubbed against mature plants. They competes with native wildlife and livestock for grass, and contribute to eroding creek and river systems. They could also be a road hazard. Methods for effective disposal of feral deer were limited to shooting, with commercial harvesters available. Five licensed game meat processors operate din South Australia.

The new policy for deer also applied to feral pigs. Land managers have to destroy all feral pigs on their properties and any movement, possession, release and sale of feral pigs is prohibited.