Report card points to continued spread of feral deer across much of Australia

What you need to know

• The reported national picture is that deer distribution grew across most jurisdictions, and abundance rose in four: Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT and Tasmania. These findings come from accounts of the 2026 National Vertebrate Pest Management Report Card, rather than direct examination of the assessment. 12
• The report card sources describe South Australia as improving across all four of its categories, including deer abundance, distribution and impacts. The state’s removal programme provides a separate measure of activity, with the Australian Government reporting more than 20,000 deer removed since May 2022. 124
• The National Feral Deer Action Plan covers 2023–2028. Its stated aims are to stop the spread of large populations and to control or eradicate small populations before they spread. The Guardian links the assessment to a 2020–2025 period, but available sources do not explain how that period is separated from the plan’s implementation. 15
• The Australian Government estimates that feral deer cost communities and primary producers about A$91 million a year. This figure is attributed to McLeod (2023), not presented as a new measurement by the 2026 report card. 42
• An official 2026 occurrence map offers broad-scale context, but uses a 20 km grid. The government cautions that it may not reflect recent control, eradication or range expansion, and says it should not be used for local-scale control planning. 3

Why this matters

The reported trends indicate that the national goal of containing or eradicating populations remains difficult to achieve in many jurisdictions. However, without access to the report card’s methods and evidence, the ratings cannot be independently checked against the official occurrence data, which has acknowledged limits. 1235

What happens next

The key outstanding step for understanding the findings is access to the complete report card, including its methods and jurisdiction-level evidence. The available sources do not set out new national control targets or sustained funding commitments, so how governments will respond remains unclear. 12

What we know

• The National Feral Deer Action Plan is a 2023–2028 plan, with goals focused on stopping the spread of large populations and controlling or eradicating small ones before they spread. 5
• The Guardian and the Invasive Species Council report that the 2026 report card found increased distribution across most jurisdictions and rising abundance in Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT and Tasmania. 12
• The government reports that more than 20,000 deer have been removed in South Australia since May 2022. This confirms removal activity, but does not by itself establish the report card’s ratings. 41
• The official occurrence map is broad-scale and may not capture current distribution after recent control or range expansion. 3

What we don't know

• The full National Vertebrate Pest Management Report Card (2026), including its methods and supporting jurisdiction-level evidence, was not available in the reviewed sources. 12
• The available reporting does not explain how the assessment defines and measures its four categories, or how it separates trends before and after the 2023 action plan began. 15
• The official occurrence dataset does not independently confirm the report card’s state-by-state ratings, and its scale and stated limitations prevent it from resolving current local distribution. 123
• The sources reviewed do not specify what sustained funding, future control targets or independent monitoring arrangements governments will adopt. 12

Read the reporting

This WildNews briefing synthesises and summarises reporting from the sources below. WildNews did not produce the original reporting. Learn more about how we use AI