2 Sambar Deer at Watson, ACT
Identification history
| Cervus unicolor | 6 Jan 2023 | DonFletcher | ||
| Feral Deer unknown species | 22 Dec 2022 | MichaelBedingfield | ||
| Unverified | 21 Dec 2022 | SteveBorkowskis |
Identify this sighting
Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.
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.
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 ...
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.
Location information
- Places Watson, ACT
Sighting information
- At least 1 Abundance
- SteveBorkowskis Recorded by
-
Collections
SteveBorkowskis Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Cervus unicolor Deer Feral hoofed introduced mammals Mammals
Species information
- Cervus unicolor Scientific name
- Sambar Deer Common name
- Sensitive
- Exotic
- Major weed or pest
- Up to 1105m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
-
Synonyms
Rusa unicolor
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes