Leaked report reveals how WA can avoid Australia’s $91m feral deer disaster

November 4, 2026 — 5:00amA leaked government report card that was blocked from public release shows Western Australia still has a chance to avoid the feral deer crisis facing eastern Australia, but has failed to make any significant changes to the pests’ numbers in the past five years.The Invasive Species Council obtained a copy of the National Vertebrate Pest Management Report Card, which revealed feral deer were one of Australia’s most rapidly increasing invasive pests, with estimated annual costs exceeding $91 million including production losses, management costs and transport impacts.Feral deer captured on DPIRD camera traps in WA.DPIRDFeral deer also pose biosecurity risks through the potential spread of exotic diseases like foot-and-mouth disease, and by increasing exposure risks to tick-borne conditions such as alphagal syndrome.In WA, the population of feral deer, concentrated largely in the south-west of the state, is much smaller than over east. But numbers have remained largely unchanged over the five years to 2025.At the time the report card was completed, WA was in the planning and community consultation phase of preparation for the first thermal-assisted aerial culling program, targeting isolated feral deer populations, according to Invasive Species Council conservation officer James Johnston.But it’s South Australia that received a glowing review as the only state to be actively managing the situation and making significant reductions to population numbers at the time.That state has a plan to eradicate all feral deer by 2032, by using thermal imaging cameras and ground control teams, as well as legally requiring landholders to destroy uncaptured feral deer on their properties.Johnston said the WA government could be taking similar active steps to achieve eradication and follow in South Australia’s footsteps.“Feral deer control began in July 2025 by the state government in WA, so they’re really in their early stages of taking action,” he said.“They’ve got a lot of the right frameworks in place and the mechanisms, particularly using the latest technology to deal with feral deer but really, they could be stepping up and really aiming for that eradication.“Feral deer trash, trample and pollute our local environments. They impact the habitat of many of our endangered species, but they also pose a community safety risk … larger populations can be quite problematic for road collisions.”Johnston said if WA picked up its efforts and created an “ambitious program” it could beat South Australia to eradication, given the population was smaller.He said that eradication could also “save a bunch of money” in the process.“Ongoing costs of managing the problem goes into the millions – many millions in other jurisdictions – so really, the key for WA is to get on top of it sooner rather than later,” Johnston said.The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development also stated that feral deer cost “tens of millions of dollars each year through agricultural losses and expenditure on their management and research”.But Johnston said WA was faring better than other states and territories, including Queensland, NSW, the ACT, Victoria, and Tasmania, which were not aiming to get deer numbers down at all.Instead, the population has started to increase over the past five years according to the leaked report card, while in WA, distribution and environmental and agricultural impacts were assessed as stable.“Jurisdictional trends are based largely on local observations, landholder reports, control data and expert opinion rather than standardised monitoring,” the report card stated.“As a result, information remains fragmented, largely qualitative and indicative only, with confidence ranging from low to high across jurisdictions.”Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter. Holly Thompson is a journalist with WAtoday, specialising in education and the environment.Connect via X or email.From our partners