24 August 2026
Project Platypus Landcare Network is proud to launch the Grampians-GariwerdDeer Coordinator Trial, a 14-month, community-led initiative to improve how our region monitors and responds to feral deer across the Upper Wimmera and Upper Hopkins catchments.
This project is delivered in direct alignment with the West Victoria Deer Control Plan 2023-2028 and the Commonwealth’s National Feral Deer Action Plan (NFDAP), providing a coordinated, evidence-based response consistent with state and national deer management priorities for theGrampians-GariwerdContainment Buffer Zone.
Feral deer numbers are exploding across Victoria and spreading westward into the Grampians-Gariwerd region and beyond. The Trial aims to prevent this spread by implementing a strategic surveillance and control program to minimise the invasion and spread of deer in our region.
Feral deer damage crops, consume pasture, destroy fencing, threaten biodiversity and water supply catchments, spread weeds, and hinder bushfire recovery and revegetation efforts. They are also an increasing risk to public safety through vehicle collisions and accidents. Without any control measures, feral deer will cost Victorians more than $2 billion over the next 30 years (Frontier Economics, 2022).
The Trial will set up a network of monitoring cameras along known feral deer movement routes, give landholders and agencies a shared, near-real-time map of feral deer activity, and provide practical support for coordinated control by landholders alongside Parks Victoria, DEECA, and lawful operators. A dedicated Coordinator role will also be developed so other regions around Australia can adopt the model.
Peter Jacobs of the Victorian Deer Control Community Network, says "Feral deer control depends on sustained, coordinated action by land managers and communities working across land tenures. To be effective, this needs dedicated co-ordination. The Victorian Deer Control Community Network (VDCCN) welcomes this trial and the practical results it can deliver. We hope these learnings will lead to rolling out similar deer-control efforts statewide."
If you'd like to learn more or register interest in participating in our monitoring initiatives, please get in touch with the team at Project Platypus,projects@platypus.org.au (mailto:projects@platypus.org.au) or (03) 5358 4410.
Bronte Heron
Communications and Events Officer