BY DAKOTA TAIT
Work is getting started on a new research project, looking into the size and species of deer populations across Lake Macquarie.
Lake Macquarie Council is funding the researchers at the University of Technology Sydney, who are hoping to get a better picture of feral deer in the region and their impact on the environment.
UTS Environmental Sciences Program Director Dr Leigh Martin says they'll use the data to help inform management strategies.
"We're pretty confident that there are deer present in western and north Lake Macquarie," he said. "What we don't know is which species are present and their precise abundance and distribution."
"It's important to know exactly where they are and what the impacts are. The main strategies that are used to manage deer are culling and excluding them sensitive environments, so that might include fencing off areas of sensitive vegetation to reduce those grazing impacts."
While deer are considered common in neighbouring Cessnock, the extent of the animals isn't clear on the Lake's western shores.
Anecdotal evidence suggests it's likely there are deer in Lake Macquarie, but the animals are often hard to spot in the wild.
Researchers are set to start field research in November.
"It's not especially glamorous work," Dr Martin said. "It involves doing what we call fecal pellet counts, which means going out and counting the number of deer poos that are present, and also using camera traps to identify where the deer are."
