Animal welfare outcomes of helicopter-based shooting of deer in Australia
Jordan O. Hampton
A B G H , Andrew J. Bengsen C , Anthony Pople D , Michael Brennan D , Mal Leeson E and David M. Forsyth C F
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Ecotone Wildlife, PO Box 76, Inverloch, Vic. 3096, Australia.
B Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, WA 6150, Australia.
C Vertebrate Pest Research Unit, NSW Department of Primary Industries, 1447 Forest Road, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia.
D Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, Qld 4102, Australia.
E Central Tablelands Local Land Services, 112 Market Street, Mudgee, NSW 2850, Australia.
F School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
G Present address: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic. 3052, Australia.
H Corresponding author. Email: jordan.hampton@unimelb.edu.au
Wildlife Research 49(3) 264-273 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR21069
Submitted: 27 April 2021 Accepted: 17 August 2021 Published: 23 December 2021
Journal Compilation © CSIRO 2022 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
Context: Helicopter-based shooting has been widely used to kill deer in Australasia, but the animal welfare outcomes of this technique have not been evaluated.
Aim: To assess the animal welfare outcomes of helicopter-based shooting of deer in Australia by quantifying the fates of deer seen and shot at, the duration of procedures and the number and location of bullet wounds in deer.
Methods: Three deer control operations were assessed. These operations targeted: (1) chital deer (Axis axis) in Queensland, (2) fallow deer (Dama dama) in Australian Capital Territory and (3) fallow deer in New South Wales. For each operation, an independent veterinarian conducted ante-mortem (i.e. from the helicopter as shooting occurred) and post-mortem (i.e. from the ground after shooting had ceased) observations. The ante-mortem data were used to estimate the proportion of deer seen that were shot, chase time (CT), time to insensibility (TTI) and total time (TT; CT + TTI). The numbers and locations of bullet wounds were recorded post-mortem.
Key results: Ante-mortem and post-mortem observations were performed for 114–318 and 60–105 deer, respectively, in the three operations. Shots were fired at 69–76% of deer that were observed. Median CT ranged from 73 to 145 s. Median TTI ranged from 17 to 37 s and median TT ranged from 109 to 162 s. The mean number of bullet wounds per deer ranged from 1.43 to 2.57. Animal welfare outcomes were better in the two fallow deer operations than in the chital deer operation. In both fallow deer operations, most deer were shot multiple times and at least once in the head or thorax. In contrast, chital deer were shot fewer times and less often in the head or thorax, and non-fatal wounding was observed.
Conclusions: The best animal welfare outcomes were achieved when helicopter-based shooting operations followed a fly-back procedure and mandated that multiple shots were fired into each animal.
Implications: Animal welfare outcomes for helicopter-based deer shooting in Australia could be improved with a national-level standard operating procedure requiring helicopters to fly back over shot animals and repeatedly shoot animals in the head or thorax.
Keywords: invasive species, pest management, population control, wildlife management.
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