Deer stranded on rock shelf highlights looming urban pest problem

Deer on rock shelf near Wollongong pool highlights urban pest problem Wed 5 Aug 2026 at 2:39pm In short: A deer became stranded on an ocean rock shelf in Wollongong this morning. Emergency services were unable to get to the animal due to tides and terrain. What's next? A Wollongong councillor says while recent culling in national parks is positive, more needs to be done to control deer in urban areas. It was a regular a sunny winter morning on Wollongong's Blue Mile as people walked their dogs, swam in the ocean rock pool and rode their bikes along the popular shared pathway. The only difference was groups of people stopping to take photos of a stranded deer on the ocean rock shelf. Small waves lapped at the legs of the animal as firefighters, police and council officers deliberated over what to do. NSW Invasive Species Council CEO Jack Gough said it was the latest example of the pest's urban encroachment. "It's maybe funny to see one near the Continental Pool, but it's not funny when you're driving at night and see a 200-to-300-kilogram stag on the road and crash into it," he said. "The road toll is huge, and the cost to the environment and agriculture is enormous." Population growth, mismanagement Illawarra residents have been reporting regular sightings of deer in unusual places, including along streets, in backyards and on rail lines. "It is widely agreed in the community that deer are an absolute scourge," Wollongong Greens councillor Jess Whittaker said earlier this week. Mr Gough said deer numbers were out of control due to years of mismanagement. "The reason we're seeing more deer is because of its exponential population growth," he said. "The reality is we have been on this pathway since the 1990s. "There's unfortunately been decades of protections for deer as a hunting resource, and there's a real patchwork of biosecurity rules about access to land for people to be able to do deer control in NSW." Mr Gough said deer populations in Wollongong and Victoria's East Gippsland were among the worst in the country. "They trash and trample streams, they prevent regeneration particularly after fire, they strip the bark off trees," he said. "They get into people's gardens and are responsible for multiple road and rail strikes. "Unfortunately we don't have a scaled-up level of funding or ambition across state and local government, local land services and the rail and road authorities in a coordinated fashion that could actually start to reduce the animal's population density." Deer cull underway nearby The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is this week conducting its second deer cull of the year in the Royal National Park near Helensburgh, north of Wollongong. The program, which has no fixed target number, aims to reduce the impact of deer on native plants, animals and threatened species. There were 48 animals killed in May, of which 36 were killed through aerial shooting and 12 using ground shooting. Wollongong City Council has signed a two-year contract with South East Local Land Services to cull feral deer appearing on streets and beaches. The move came two months after Lord Mayor Tania Brown wrote to the state government to sound the alarm over feral deer running rampant on major roads, residential streets and beaches in Wollongong. Peri-urban areas a major challenge Cr Whittacker said that while deer culling in the Royal National Park was a useful exercise to reduce numbers in that area, controlling deer in Wollongong suburbs was extremely difficult. "The peri-urban and urban areas [are] such a challenging problem because you're managing safety and community and how do you cull them there?" she said. "The cull in the national park will probably reduce the number of deer coming out of the national park and into the Illawarra, but we already have so many deer in the escarpment around Figtree, Farmborough Heights, Bulli and Woonona. "That's going to need more scientific research and a strategic approach for all levels of government to work together on a coordinated approach to get the numbers down." A council spokesperson said in a statement the deer at Wollongong's Continental Pool this morning made its way north and was last seen heading into Puckey's Estate where it no longer posed a direct risk to the public.