Cervus unicolor

2 Sambar Deer at Watson, ACT

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Identification history

Cervus unicolor	6 Jan 2023	DonFletcher
Feral Deer unknown species	22 Dec 2022	MichaelBedingfield
Unidentified	21 Dec 2022	SteveBorkowskis

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User's notes

Attempted to get photos of the actual animals on numerous occasions, but they were very elusive and were bedded during the day in thick vegetation and were nearly impossible to get close enough for a photo without spooking. Multiple individuals present due to different sized footprints, some prints were quite large and punched holes deep into the muddy tracks. Found several rubbed trees and cleared areas of scrub, bushes were bulldozed out of the way. The soil in the cleared areas also appeared to be chiseled away by antlers.

5 comments

waltraud wrote:

22 Dec 2022

The presence of Samba Deer on Mts Majura/Ainslie is known to PCS and we suggest placing a camera to confirm.

DonFletcher wrote:

6 Jan 2023

This is Sambar

waltraud wrote:

7 Jan 2023

hi Steve
when you say bulldozed, do you mean machinery was in there or do you refer to the damage by deer? just asking because we had lots of illegal building of BMX and mountain bike tracks, jumps, etc in remote areas, mostly on the east slopes; they somehow looked like machinery was used; the only wombat home on the east slope that was known to be inhabited was destroyed... there were also camps built where the ground was evened out, trees cut and used to build structures ...

SteveBorkowskis wrote:

7 Jan 2023

Hi Waltraud, I was only referring to the damage caused by the deer, they have cleared areas back to bare earth up to about 8-10 metres wide and pushed large shrubs out of the ground to make the clearings, everything is piled up on sides of the clearings (similar to what you might see from a bulldozer but on a smaller scale). It’s not great to see the damage they are causing but at the same time I can’t help but be impressed by the strength it would require to do this kind of thing. I didn’t see any signs of people using that area, probably why the deer like it there.

waltraud wrote:

8 Jan 2023

okay, thanks Steve.

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