Shot and left to rot: Tasmania grapples with deer dilemma as invasive pest numbers soar

Chorley can take some meat for personal use, but because of a law protecting the deer, he is not allowed to sell any of it. As a result, an estimated 15,000 deer are shot in Tasmania each year and their carcasses are left in pits.

Tasmania is the last state to maintain a ban on commercial selling of deer meat, after New South Wales and Vic changed their regulations in 2019.

He says he has seen pits filled with 2,000 dead deer on farms. One has an annual event where hundreds of animals are herded into a gully and shot.

While Chorley would like to earn money from killing the animals, his main concern is population growth and he hates the waste.

John Kelly, a pioneer game meat producer who runs Lenah Game Meats, buys carcasses of other animals from Chorley, but says he pays a premium to import venison.

Kelly admits commercialising the meat would not have a huge impact on deer numbers, but it would stop the waste and create jobs.

Commercial harvesting has been recommended by several inquiries in Tasmania. There is widespread agreement over the number of deer, but commercial sales are a contentious issue.

The council, along with the Greens, wants the species listed as a pest and culled.

Cox says the deer have expanded out of the highlands in the past 15 years and are now everywhere, including in urban areas just outside Launceston and Hobart.

There will also be a trial to evaluate the potential for deer farmers to supply products to restaurants, though no timeline has been set.