A new research paper published by CSIRO Wildlife Research has found room for improvement in taxpayer-funded aerial deer culling operations. The first of its kind in Australia, the research assessed operations in Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, and New South Wales.
Key Points:
There is no national-level standard operating procedure for aerial deer culling
Some operations resulted in dramatically increased rates of wounding
Up to 14% of deer suffer wounding
Around 75% of deer observed from helicopters were shot at
Ante-mortem and post-mortem observations were performed for deer in the three operations.
Shots were fired at 69–76% of deer that were observed. The mean number of bullet wounds per deer ranged from 1.43 to 2.57.
Animal welfare outcomes were better in the two fallow deer operations than in the chital deer operation. In both fallow deer operations, most deer were shot multiple times and at least once in the head or thorax. In contrast, chital deer were shot fewer times and less often in the head or thorax, and non-fatal wounding was observed
"Non-fatal wounding is the least desirable animal welfare outcome (Aebischer et al. 2014), and occurred in two ways in Operation A (Chital). First, four deer were hit, became immobile and were rendered insensible, but were not killed, and fly back was not performed. Second, three deer were hit, remained mobile and disappeared under dense rubber vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora) thickets where they could not be seen by the shooter. In the latter situations, fly-back procedures were performed but did not prevent non-fatal wounding. To avoid these outcomes, deer may need to be flushed (chased) into more open areas, which would come with an animal welfare trade off, whereby duration of stress during pursuit would be increased to reduce the likelihood of an adverse event during shooting"
The study observed higher wounding rates where cullers were not required to complete 'fly back and repeat shooting to the thorax or head'. Put crudely; animal welfare outcomes are diminished in favour of reduced flying times. The study also pointed out the lack of independent vision of culling operations to enable accountability – this could be overcome by mounting a camera in the helicopter above the shooter or on the shooter's helmet.
Ante-mortem and post-mortem observations were performed for 114–318 and 60–105 deer, respectively, in the three operations. Shots were fired at 69–76% of deer that were observed. The mean number of bullet wounds per deer ranged from 1.43 to 2.57.
Animal welfare outcomes were better in the two fallow deer operations than in the chital deer operation. In both fallow deer operations, most deer were shot multiple times and at least once in the head or thorax. In contrast, chital deer were shot fewer times and less often in the head or thorax, and non-fatal wounding was observed.
The authors of the study concluded that "the best animal welfare outcomes were achieved when helicopter-based shooting operations followed a fly-back procedure and mandated that multiple shots were fired into each animal." They have recommended that animal welfare outcomes for helicopter-based deer shooting in Australia could be improved with a national-level standard operating procedure requiring helicopters to fly back over shot animals and repeatedly shoot
animals in the head or thorax.
The ADA continues to call for Government's across Australia to be open and accountable about aerial culling operations. The veil of secrecy undermines public confidence and threatens animal welfare outcomes.
Further reading:
Animal welfare outcomes of helicopter-based shooting of deer in Australia
Jordan O. Hampton, Andrew J. Bengsen, Anthony Pople, Michael Brennan, Mal Leeson and David M. Forsyth