Disturbing images reveal that a destructive species that is spreading across Victoria has already crossed the state’s northern border.
Evidence gathered from the camera has confirmed that boar deer have spread across the NSW Southern Tablelands and adjacent Central West.
This 60 to 70cm species is native to India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, but despite its size, this creature is known to wreak havoc on Australia’s fragile landscape wherever it spreads.
As the findings have taken place inland and away from other known populations, CEO of the Invasive Species Council, Jack Gough, suspects that a rogue group of poachers moved the animals on purpose.
He told Yahoo News: “I’m pissed off.
“A group of selfish people have decided that their personal game is more important than our farmers, waterways and wildlife.”
The species was first spotted using the FeralScan app, which allows users to report sightings of the invasive species. It was then reported to the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPIRD) and Local Land Services, respectively Country.
Feral deer cost the Australian economy more than $91 million a year, and NSW authorities are taking the arrival of the pigs seriously, with plans to eradicate the population.
While there are some species of feral deer established in NSW, Gough says the arrival of pigs is a major concern.
“It’s like having feral cats, then you bring in tigers or Bengal cats,” he said.
It is believed that brutal hunters spread wild animals
The NSW discovery follows the discovery of the variety for the first time in Coldstream, the internationally renowned Yarra Valley wine region.
A camera installed has confirmed that hog deer have crossed the NSW border. Source: NSW DPIRD
Gough is even more concerned that there is a “culture” among the gun community of distributing invasive species to new areas.
Adding weight to this theory is a different event in 2025, where farmland was destroyed by wild pigs on South Australia’s Limestone Coast.
The area is protected from natural invasion by the Murray and Coorong Rivers, and local authorities believe the pigs arrived on purpose.
Victoria is helping the deer population of wild boars thrive
In Victoria, wild boar are controversially protected by the government as “important game species”.
There is a strict hunting limit, with licensed deer hunters only allowed to harvest one male and one female each season, and carcasses must be tagged and delivered to a Game Management Victoria inspection center within 24 hours.
Despite the size of the boar deer, the Victorian National Parks Association’s Jordan Crook compares its effect on the forest to “a small bulldozer”.
He discovered that the species had spread to Coldstream on 15 November.
“I thought, “What is that, what is that?” It’s a boar,” he recalled.
“In the past, they were always close to the coast, but now that we find them in places like the Yarra Valley, it’s probably because they were moved by guns.
Crook shares Gough’s concerns about aggressive hunters spreading invasive species.
He sent the Department of the Environment (DEECA) a report on the Coldstream sighting in December, calling for a program of eradication and monitoring throughout the region. He is not sure what action was taken.
Yahoo News has reached out to DEECA for comment.
Crook believes the proliferation of deer in Victoria should serve as a warning to NSW that the species needs to be eradicated urgently.
“They like wet, humid, swampy areas that are easily damaged by hard-footed animals like deer and hogs,” he said.
“But they seem to be spreading across the country now, which is very worrying.”
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