Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Wildlife Research Wildlife Research Society
Ecology, management and conservation in natural and modified habitats
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > WR > WR06002
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 34(3)

Oh deer, what can the matter be? Landholder attitudes to deer management in Queensland

N. A. Finch A and G. S. Baxter B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Animal Studies, The University of Queensland, Gatton Campus, Qld 4343, Australia.

B School of Natural & Rural Systems Management, The University of Queensland, Gatton Campus, Qld 4343, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: gbaxter@uqg.uq.edu.au

Wildlife Research 34(3) 211-217 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR06002
Submitted: 3 January 2006  Accepted: 20 April 2007   Published: 6 June 2007

Abstract

Deer are not native to Australia but have been present in the country for more than 150 years. For most of that time they have not been regarded as either an agricultural or environmental pest, but in the last few years there have been calls for their numbers to be reduced. Four species of deer can be found in well established populations in Queensland, mostly occurring on private land. Hence the effectiveness of any management of deer as pests will be heavily influenced by the actions of the land owners. This paper reports on a survey of the attitudes of landholders towards deer on their properties. A total of 2621 surveys was mailed to landowners and managers in regions known to support wild deer in Queensland. Of the 28.3% of surveys returned, over 75% of respondents conducted some form of primary production on their land and 65% of these had deer on their properties at least some of the time. Responses to questions were mostly uniform throughout the state, with over 50% of respondents wanting the deer population to stay at current levels or increase. Only 5% of respondents supported poisoning as a management strategy, with 17% supporting trapping. Recreational hunting and game-meat harvesting were favoured management options, with 42% and 51% support respectively. Only 25% of respondents thought wild deer caused environmental damage and 30% thought wild deer caused agricultural damage, with most associating wild deer as a less significant pest than those species already declared under state legislation. Of those surveyed, 56% agreed with the statement ‘It is important to maintain wild deer populations for future generations to enjoy’. The spread of deer in Australia is of increasing concern to ecologists, and there have been calls for action to reduce their numbers on private and public land. The results of this survey imply that a significant proportion of Queensland landholders would resist legislation aimed at managing deer as a pest in areas with long-established wild deer populations.


Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Australian Deer Association Queensland Branch, who also assisted with selection of survey recipient names and addresses. We also thank all the landholders and managers who responded to the survey. Dr David Peacock, South Australian Department of Water, Land & Biodiversity Conservation provided details of a survey he conducted in that state.


References

Baskin Y. (2002). ‘A Plague of Rats and Rubber-vines: the Growing Threat of Species Invasions.’ (Island Press: Washington, DC.)

Bentley A. (1998). ‘An Introduction to the Deer of Australia.’ (The Australian Deer Research Foundation Ltd: Melbourne.)

Cause M. L. (1995). A survey of economic values for recreational deer hunting in Australia. In ‘Conservation Through Sustainable Use of Wildlife’. (Eds G. Grigg, P. Hale, and D. Lunney.) pp. 296–306. (The Centre for Conservation Biology, The University of Queensland: Brisbane.)

Christoffel, R. A. , and Craven, S. R. (2000). Attitudes of woodland owners toward white-tailed deer and herbivory in Wisconsin. Wildlife Society Bulletin 28, 227–234.
Conover M. (2002). ‘Resolving Human–Wildlife Conflicts. The Science of Wildlife Damage Management.’ (Lewis Publishers: Washington, DC.)

Cousins, J. A. , and Compton, S. G. (2005). The Tongan flying fox Pteropus tonganus: status, public attitudes and conservation in the Cook Islands. Oryx 39, 196–203.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Dryden G., and Craig-Smith S. (2004). Safari hunting of Australian exotic wild game. Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Publication No. 04/108.

Fulton, D. C. , Skerl, K. , Shank, E. M. , and Lime, D. W. (2004). Beliefs and attitudes toward lethal management of deer in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Wildlife Society Bulletin 32, 1166–1176.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Game Council of New South Wales (2006). Accessed online 21 December 2006, http://www.gamecouncil.nsw.gov.au/

Hall, G. (2004). Property based game management, alive and very well in Tasmania. Australian Deer 29, 10–13.
Jesser P. (2005). ‘Deer in Queensland.’ Pest Status Review Series. (Department of Natural Resources and Mines: Brisbane.)

Lauber, T. B. , and Knuth, B. A. (2004). Effects of information on attitudes toward suburban deer management. Wildlife Society Bulletin 32, 322–331.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Low T. (1999). ‘Feral Future.’ (Viking: Melbourne.)

McGregor, J. A. (2005). Corocodile crimes: people versus wildlife and the politics of postcolonial conservation on Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. Geoforum 36, 353–369.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Moriarty A., English T., Mulley R., Priddel D., and Richardson B. (2001). Status, distribution and potential impact of feral deer in Australia: a case study – rusa deer in the Royal National Park, NSW. In ‘Proceedings of the 12th Australasian Vertebrate Pest Conference, Melbourne’. pp. 358–360.

Morely, P. (2003a). Pest status urged for feral deer. Courier Mail 17 September 2003, 15.
Murphy B. L. (1995). Management of wild fallow deer in Tasmania: a sustainable approach. In ‘Conservation Through Sustainable Use of Wildlife’. (Eds G. C. Grigg, P. T. Hale and D. Lunney.) pp. 307–311. (The University of Queensland: Brisbane.)

Olenick, K. L. , Kreuter, U. P. , and Conner, J. R. (2005). Texas landowner perceptions regarding ecosystem services and cost-sharing land management programs. Ecological Economics 53, 247–260.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (2004). Pest Info Map of Deer Distribution in Queensland. [Verified 21 December 2006] http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/pests/maps/pest_distribution/pdf/central_west/2004/deer_spp.pdf

Raik, D. B. , Decker, D. J. , and Siemer, W. F. (2006). Capacity building: a new focus for collaborative approaches to community-based suburban deer management? Wildlife Society Bulletin 34, 525–530.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Ramsay B. J. (1994). ‘Commercial Use of Wild Animals in Australia.’ (Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra.)

Robson C. (2002). ‘Real World Research.’ 2nd edn. (Blackwell Publishers: Oxford.)

Roff, C. (1960). Deer in Queensland. Queensland Journal of Agricultural Science 17, 43–58.
Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries Water and Environment (2006). Game Tracks. The Official Publication of the Game Management Services Unit, Issue 11. DPIWE, Longford, Tasmania.

Tisdell, C. , Wilson, C. , and Nantha, H. S. (2005). Policies for saving a rare Australian glider: economics and ecology. Biological Conservation 123, 237–248.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

West, B. C. , and Parkhurst, J. A. (2002). Interactions between deer damage, deer density, and stakeholder attitudes in Virginia. Wildlife Society Bulletin 30, 139–147.


Whittaker, D. , Manfredo, M. J. , Fix, P. J. , Sinnott, R. , Miller, S. , and Vaske, J. J. (2001). Understanding beliefs and attitudes about an urban wildlife hunt near Anchorage, Alaska. Wildlife Society Bulletin 29, 1114–1124.