Footage of feral deer sprinting across highway exposes national 'crisis'

Driver Chris Per captured the deer’s death-defying sprint while travelling down Ginnindara Drive in the nation’s capital yesterday and managed to avoid hitting the animal.

Feral deer are found in every Australian state and territory and the Invasive Species Council has warned the exploding population could pose a huge danger to residents.

Chief executive Jack Gough has called on the NSW government to take action to cull the wild deer population before there is a major accident.

“The ACT government has been really proactive in managing feral deer, particularly with undertaking thermal-assisted aerial culls, but the pressure of the growing population means that increasingly they are getting into urban areas,” Gough said.

“Feral deer are trashing, trampling and polluting our forests and rivers and are an increasing threat to motorists and agriculture.

“We need ongoing, scaled-up, professional control efforts to protect Canberra and our other capital cities.”

Gough said the growing Canberra deer population required “ongoing control programs” but claimed the animals are crossing the border from NSW into the Australian Capital Territory.

Deer can do critical damage to cars in the same way large kangaroos can, he added.

“Unfortunately, even if the numbers get down to zero, they will keep crossing the border because NSW is doing such a poor job of managing feral deer,” Gough said.

“People know how much damage 40-60kg kangaroos can cause to their car but don’t always realise just how big and heavy a deer can be.

“Sambar deer, for example, can be 250-300kg.”

According to the Invasive Species Council, the level of feral deer in Australia has doubled since 2002, reaching an estimated 2 million in 2022.

The council said uncontrolled feral deer populations can grow by up to 50 per cent every year.