The NSW government has announced plans to increase the culling of deer in the Royal National Park by up to 30%.
The announcement comes after deer sightings in inner west Sydney have increased in the past few months. Most recently a deer followed the rail lines from the Royal all the way down to Kingsgrove and took animal welfare staff several hours to capture. The deer have also been the cause of two fatal traffic accidents in the last couple of years.
The deer are not native to Australia and seven were introduced into the Royal National Park in 1906 at Audley in an enclosed area. The deer had escaped and have been breeding in the Park since with a current estimated population of 1700 today. Culling by National Parks and Wildlife Service in the last five years resulted in the killing of 900. The increase in culling hopes to reduce the population down to 1000.
Sutherland Council concerned over liability issues is now prepared to deal with deer found on private residential property. Residents can call Council and they will send out trained staff to arrange removal of any feral deer.
The deer nuisance is hardly news to Bundeena and Maianbar residents. On Tuesday mornings many a tipped bin can be spotted on our streets from deers rummaging for food. This has been partially alleviated in the last year with Council garbage pickup scheduled for after 8am.
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