In January 2011, SSAA National wrote a letter to the Project Team of the Feral Deer Management Strategy 2010-2015 to respond to the issue of feral deer management as proposed by the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation’s Biosecurity Queensland.
The SSAA argues that it is premature to develop a management strategy until more is known about the actual impacts of wild deer. The letter states that the draft strategy as it stands is based on preconceived views that deer is nothing more than an exotic pest to most people and that the strategy will have limited acceptance and therefore limited effectiveness. SSAA National agrees that wild deer management should be “tailored to suit the particular needs and requirements of individual regions”. It says eradication is a goal that will never be achievable across the board and is one that is unlikely to be endorsed by all stakeholders. A case can be made for the removal of wild deer from areas deemed to be environmentally sensitive, where credible research proves any population of wild deer will cause negative impacts.