Hog deer, native to south and southeast Asia, were introduced to Victoria for hunting and have been confined to the Gippsland coast — until now. Photo: pestsmart.
A new and unwanted visitor has been found roaming the Southern Tablelands, raising serious concerns among conservationists, farmers and biosecurity experts – and pointing to what they describe as a deeply troubling pattern of hunters deliberately moving feral animals into new territory.
Hog deer (Axis porcinus), a small species previously confined to Victoria’s Gippsland coast more than 700 kilometres away, have been detected in two locations on country between Yass and Blayney.
Confirmed by trail camera footage and formally classified as an “extreme biosecurity threat”, the discoveries mark the first time the species has been recorded as feral in NSW.
“This is a biosecurity emergency – this is not just another deer sighting, this is an entirely new species that operates in different ways,” said Jack Gough, chief executive of the Invasive Species Council.
“This is no different to if fire ants were found in NSW. They need to get onto this quickly.”
The incursion was first detected through the FeralScan-DeerScan app, which prompted Local Land Services (LLS) and NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) biosecurity officers to mobilise.
DPIRD has said it considers the population small enough for eradication to remain a feasible outcome, with feral hog deer to be humanely euthanised as part of the program.
Hog deer have been listed as a priority species throughout the South East Local Land Services region.
They are the smallest of Australia’s six feral deer species – males reach about 55 kilograms and 70 centimetres – and their modest size can mislead people into underestimating their impact.
They contribute to total grazing pressure, strip bark from trees, create browse lines that prevent forest regeneration, and can spread both native and exotic plant seeds.
Like all deer, their populations can rise by 34 to 50 per cent in a single year without intervention; a herd of 30 can reach 500 within a decade.
In Victoria, hog deer are controversially treated as a protected, “valued game species”, with hunters permitted to take only one male and one female per season.
Hunters travel from across the country to pursue them, and a dedicated touring industry has grown around the species on Victoria’s south-east coast.
That tight scarcity has made them highly prized – and, the Invasive Species Council believes, created a perverse incentive for some hunters to try to establish new populations elsewhere.
Mr Gough said natural migration from Victoria was not credible, and pointed to a documented pattern of deliberate translocation by hunters elsewhere in the country to support his assessment.
“Let’s be really clear about what’s happening here,” he said.
“Some hunters have, in an act of wanton and despicable selfishness, decided to move some of those deer into parts of NSW because they’ve decided that their recreation is more important than farming, our native wildlife, and our rivers.”
The pattern is not isolated to deer.
Feral pigs found damaging South Australian farmland in 2025 were genetically traced to populations in northwest NSW, and sambar deer have been detected far from any known population.
In Victoria, pigs found in new areas had their ears surgically clipped – a technique used by hunters to prevent dogs from targeting breeding sows, preserving a population for future seasons.
On the ground near Gunning, Landcare coordinator Leah Samson was among the first to spread the word to local landholders after DPIRD contacted her in late March.
She has been urging people not to assume the species behaves like the pests they already know.
“Deer can be so much more elusive than pigs – you’re not necessarily seeing massive disturbances associated with them,” Ms Samson said.
“They use the same game trails and their poo looks like sheep, so they can be harder to detect,” she said. “One of the reasons we are on high alert is that if we are looking for obvious species like pigs, we might be missing things like hog deer.”
Ms Samson said the patchwork of land management across the district – large farms, hobby blocks, weekender properties and conservation land all sitting side by side – could hamper swift, coordinated action.
But she was clear about the stakes.
“If we can act quite quickly, that’s the least possible amount of effort to prevent them from being established, rather than catching up on the other end of it.”
That urgency is shared by Mr Gough, who points to a structural weakness in NSW’s legal framework.
Under the NSW Biosecurity Act 2015, no formal control order has been made for deer, meaning, unlike states such as South Australia, there’s currently no legal obligation on landholders to eradicate them beyond the general biosecurity duty.
“You’re not wasting your money removing a heap of deer and having a few properties – probably hunting properties – that keep a heap of deer on there,” Mr Gough said.
The NSW Natural Resources Commission’s 2024 review of invasive species management called for stronger enforcement powers, dedicated regional coordinators and a shift to five-yearly funding cycles.
The government accepted the recommendations in principle but, according to Mr Gough, has yet to commit the money, while the 2025-26 NSW Budget cut the Feral Pig and Pest Control Program from $13.1 million to $9.3 million.
With the 2026 NSW Budget imminent, pressure is mounting from both sides of politics.
The NSW Opposition has proposed a $300 million invasive species management package, including expanded aerial shooting, thermal imaging and drone technology, rapid response teams, and – significantly – increased legal obligations on public land managers to control feral animals.
Mr Gough said the ISC would be looking closely at whether the Minns Government matched it with serious long-term investment.
“Invasive species don’t care who is in government,” he said.
“What matters is whether governments are prepared to commit the resources needed to get on top of them.”
In the meantime, NSW’s Independent Biosecurity Commissioner Dr Katherine Clift has begun a broader assessment of how feral deer and pig management is working across the state, with preliminary findings due in June and a final report expected in October.
Landholders are being urged to check low-lying and swampy areas at dawn and dusk, when hog deer are most active.
About the size of a sheep and reddish-brown in colour, they tend to hide in thick vegetation during the day – and as Leah Samson noted, their tracks and droppings can easily be mistaken for those of sheep or other stock.
Anyone who spots a hog deer in NSW is encouraged to report it via the FeralScan-DeerScan app or contact Local Land Services on 1300 795 299.
Original Article published by Edwina Mason on About Regional.
