Detailed History of Australian Feral Deer Species
Chital Deer (1800 – 1803):
Chital Deer were the first deer species to be introduced to Australia. They are are native to India and Sri Lanka and were brought to Australia between 1800 and 1803 by Dr. John Harris of the New South Wales Corp. They were introduced to several places in Victoria, the Darling Downs region in Queensland and at the Maryvale station near the Burdekin River in North Queensland.
Chital face few problems outside of habitat limitations and seasonal conditions.
They have a low level of predation from dingoes and have an ability to rapidly recover after declines in populations once conditions improve. Because of their regular grooming habits and possible natural resistance to external parasites, they appear to be tick free. In their native India and Sri Lanka they are the main prey for tigers.
Fallow Deer (1830):
Released around 1830 in Australia, Fallow deer originate from parts of Europe, Asia and North-west Africa. They are the most widespread of the six deer species and can now be found in Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Their wide dispersal can be attributed to them being well adapted to living in fringe country which is a mixture of developed and semi-developed farmland with nearby forest or scrub.
Fallow deer are widespread throughout Tasmania which compromises their ideal habitat of grassland broken by hardwood forest which provides them with both feed and cover. They are found in the Glen Innes area of New South Wales and near Lake George in the ACT. In Queensland they occur along the border with New South Wales, especially around the Stanthorpe/Warwick area. Small and scattered populations exist in Victoria and in South Australia. South Australia manages Fallow deer very well and is a model for management throughout Australia for private land owners.
Red Deer (1870):
Native to Europe, Asia and parts of North Africa, Red deer are the most common species in hunting folklore. They were introduced extensively to Australia with the majority originating from two primary sources; Windsor Great Park and Knowsley Park in England. Red deer were also imported into Queensland from Scotland. The Thomas Chirnside Werribee Park homestead just outside of Melbourne was home to an established herd, and it was from this herd that numerous deer were selected and translocated to Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland and New Zealand.
At this time, the largest established herd is in Queensland’s Brisbane and Mary river catchment areas which includes both private and public land. The Grampians in Victoria contain a stable herd which are mainly confined to the National Park. The Otway Ranges in Victoria also have a small herd which is infrequently sighted. New South Wales and South Australia have populations throughout private land as a result of historic releases and deer farms escapees.
Rusa Deer (early 1900s):
In the early 1900s there were many introductions of the Javan sub species of Rusa deer into New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. These mainly still persist in New South Wales coastline areas of Illawarra, Coffs Harbour and across the border into Queensland. The Moluccan Rusa sub species was introduced in 1910 on Friday Island at the tip of the Cape York Peninsula, and has spread to Prince of Wales Island, Possession Island, Groote Eylandt and onto the Queensland mainland.
@@@THIS PARAGRAPH IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS FALLOW?
Like Fallow deer, Rusa deer are widespread throughout Tasmania due to ample ideal habitat of grassland broken by hardwood forest. They are found in the Glen Innes area of New South Wales and near Lake George in the ACT. In Queensland they occur along the border with New South Wales especially around Stanthorpe/Warwick area. Victoria have small and scattered populations and in South Australia they are well managed and this area is a model for management throughout Australia private land owners.
Sambar Deer (1860):
Sambar deer are the largest of the Australian feral deer species, and they originate from Sri Lanka and Sumatra. They were first introduced in the early 1860s at Mount Sugarloaf, now known as Kinglake National Park, and at Harewood, on the edges of the Koo-Wee-Rup swamp. Subsequent introductions were made at Ercildoune between Ballarat and Mount Cole, Wilson Promontory, French Island in Westernport Bay and in the Cobourg Peninsula in the Northern Territory.
The Mount Col population remains today, although it is isolated, and small groups still persist on the French Islands where they have been seen swimming back and forth between the mainland. There have been sightings on Wilson’s Promontory and Snake Island with rising populations also observed in south Gippsland forests. The population in the Cobourg Peninsula are still present today.
Sambar deer have dispersed into much of eastern Victoria’s forested country where they have resided since the mid-1990s. They also spread into East Gippsland and further into southern New South Wales and ACT. Sambar deer were initially impacted by the black summer fires, however a rapid increase in numbers have been observed following the fires. They are a very adaptable deer species and are expected to extend their range north towards south east Queensland if they are not managed.
Hog Deer (1860):
Hog deer are the most primitive of all deer species and are native to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Burma. A sub-species is found from Thailand to Vietnam and in China where they are endangered. After becoming extinct in Thailand, they have recently been successfully re-introduced.
The Acclimatisation Society of Victoria, with the support of the Victorian government, introduced and established hog deer in Victoria during the 1860s.
In October 1865, the steamer Pharos transported three stags and nine hinds to their release point at Opos- sum Creek in Corner Inlet on the eastern side of Wilson’s Promontory. Further releases followed near the Latrobe River at Sale, between Seymour and Yea and in the hills near Gembrook. The deer became firmly established in the coastal swamps and off- shore islands but declined elsewhere.
In the 1950s and 1960s the Hog deer population shrank due to the use of 1080 poison to control rabbits, scrub clearance and drainage of wetlands. Hunters and wildlife departments worked together to establish rehabilitation measures and succeeded in increasing populations to their current numbers. In the Blond Bay State Reserve, hunting organisations, in colaboration with the Victorian Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, reestablished Hog deer population for harvesting purposes through a balloted hunting system.