Tasmania's feral deer population has had an "unanticipated" increase of nearly 20,000 in a five-year period.

An aerial survey was conducted in October 2024 of central and north-east Tasmania, the main areas where feral deer are found.

It estimated the population at 71,655, a "marked increase" from the last survey result of 53,660 in 2019.

The report found the population was spreading, and had risen somewhere between 12 per cent and 55 per cent over the five-year period.

"This degree of change in a five-year period was not anticipated," the report states.

"We recommend that surveys need to be done more frequently (every 2–3 years) to monitor whether the deer management goals of the current management plan are being met."

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