THE usual sounds of nature and an air of tranquility they help produce at Devilbend Reserve, Moorooduc, are set to be shattered by gunfire at any time from next month, May. But the resident kangaroos should have nothing to fear – except the noise – as Parks Victoria has enlisted the help of deer hunters to “reduce” the number of deer in the reserve.Signs posted by Parks in the reserve say deer will be hunted at Devilbend over 16 weeks. The signs say, “effective control [of deer] requires the implementation of coordinated ground shooting operations”. The signs include the logos…
Browsing: Devilbend
NON-professional deer hunters have been recruited by Parks Victoria to shoot deer at Devilbend Natural Features Reserve, near Moorooduc. Sections of the reserve are being closed to the public from 4pm to 6am while the hunt proceeds over the next month. Parks Victoria says its monitoring program had shown that the number of deer on the Mornington Peninsula had “increased rapidly” over the past two years. Acting area chief ranger Nick Jansen said the culling of fallow deer at Devilbend had been “stepped up … in a bid to eradicate them before their population increases and causes significant damage”. “We’ve…
DEVILBEND Reserve was officially opened on Saturday, but the battle between environmentalists, government and fishing groups is far from over. Parks Victoria’s newest reserve was opened by Water Minister Peter Walsh, bringing to fruition more than 12 years of planning and negotiation. Now called Devilbend Natural Features Reserve, the 1000-hectare reserve has an entrance gateway, asphalt entrance road, sealed car park, picnic and barbecue facilities, walking tracks and a boardwalk. Controversially, there are two fishing platforms and the 14,600-megalitre reservoir (an Olympic pool holds one megalitre) was stocked with 5000 brown and 5000 rainbow trout of “catchable” size by the…