Parks Victoria has been undertaking deer control works in Bunyip State Park over the past 18 months.

The works have been part of a control program in Bunyip State Park as well as nearby Kurth Kiln Regional Park and Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area.
Since March 2023, more than 600 deer have been removed from Bunyip State Park, Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area and Kurth Kiln Regional Park.
Parks Victoria area chief ranger for Gembrook Jack Dinkgreve said deer had a catastrophic impact on the Victorian landscape.
He said in 2021, it was estimated feral deer imposed a cost of $91.3 million per year across Australia.
Parks Victoria is working on deer control across Victoria through control programs that aim to reduce deer population size, prevent damage to high biodiversity value areas and prevent new incursions of deer from establishing themselves and impacting on adjoining private property.
Mr Dinkgreve said deer impacts could be seen in many areas across the three parks, including vegetation damage from grazing and browsing, tree rubbing with their large antlers, trampling of delicate vegetation, creating large networks of trails, damage to creek and riverbanks and wallowing and creating areas of mud which smother local plants.
Deer are voracious herbivores and are capable of consuming large quantities of vegetation each day, he said.
Locally, Parks Victoria is currently controlling deer within key areas of the Gembrook landscape for the protection of waterway catchments along the Diamond, Woori Yallock, Cockatoo, Black Snake and Cannibal Creeks and the Bunyip River.
The program is focused to limit the impact of deer on streams and banks, threatened flora communities, such as the Sedge-rich Eucalyptus camphora Swamp, core habitat areas for Leadbeater's Possum and Helmeted Honeyeaters, and impacts on private landowners.
Parks Victoria has engaged authorised ground shooting contractors, in addition to an aerial team to deliver the works.
Mr Dinkgreve said these methods were used to achieve the best coverage of deer control across the complex landscapes.
The works have been funded by Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) through the Victorian Deer Control Strategy.
Mr Dinkgreve said deer management now requires a joint effort from property owners, community groups, local shires, and government agencies.
He said working together across the broader landscape was imperative to reduce the impact.