Tasmanian Deer Advisory Committee chairman Matthew Allen said the state’s wild deer population may have grown, but a change in habitat meant deer was more visible now and so it was more a perception of greater numbers.

Three main factors have affected the deer population growth: more land turned to crops, doe reaching fertility earlier and less predators.

Deer prefer light cover, but as this land is cleared and turned into irrigated pasture, the animals are forced to move to other areas.

“We’re improving crops and removing their habitat so it’s pushing deer further out,” Mr Allen said.

Access to irrigated crops has also affected deer breeding patterns, with doe reaching the 18-kilogram fertility ceiling within their first 12 months, rather than by 18 months.

“More are breeding within their first year, so we end up with more deer,” Mr Allen said.

And their offspring have a greater chance of survival too.

“In the first two or three hours after birth devils can eat fawns, but more fawns are making it through.”

“There is a perception there’s more deer, but people are just seeing them where they haven’t been before. They were probably there all along,” he said.

The wild deer population is estimated at between 30,000 and 45,000 as it is controlled now, but a University of Tasmania study predicts this could blow out to one million by 2050 if the population is not managed.

“But the population will never get to one million deer because hunters, farmers and the government won’t allow it,” Mr Allen said.

The Tasmanian government announced $150,000 funding for a state-wide census on wild deer populations, which Mr Allen said was necessary.

“We can control the population if we know what the population is,” he said.