Species Use Database

Sambar deer, Cervus unicolor
Rusa unicolor

Used for Food and feed, Collection/display and Recreation in Victoria

A. Species

Scientific name: Rusa unicolor

Common name(s): Sambar deer, Cervus unicolor

Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Vulnerable


B. Location of use

Geographic location(s):

  • Victoria

Country/Region: Australia / State of Victoria


C. Scale of assessment

Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State

Name/Details of location: State of Victoria.


D. Timescale of use

Start Year: 2021

End Year: 2021


E. Information about the use

How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from a suitable habitat but not its own natural habitat

Type of use: Extractive

Practice of use: Hunting and/or Trapping of live terrestrial and aerial animals

Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism

Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed, Collection/display and Recreation

Motivation of use: Basic subsistence and Recreational

Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law


F. Information about the Users

Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people


G. Information about the sustainability of use

Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from a suitable habitat but not its own natural habitat

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable

Details of assessment carried out: Deer were censused by the Victoria Game Management Authority.

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Deer are invasive species in Australia. The intention of the use in this study was to ensure numbers do not increase while maintaining sufficient deer to support recreational hunting.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable

Details of assessment carried out: author opinion - deer are invasive

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The intention of this survey was to monitor harvest rates to ensure deer numbers were controlled so as not to damage the ecosystem while maintaining sufficient deer to service recreational hunters.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable

Details of assessment carried out: author opinion - deer are invasive

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The intention of this survey was to monitor harvest rates to ensure deer numbers were controlled so as not to damage the ecosystem while maintaining sufficient deer to service recreational hunters.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable

Details of assessment carried out: established

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: deer meat consumed worldwide

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Details of assessment carried out: study does not investigate

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: study does not investigate


Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species

The study advocates that the people conducting telephone surveys [of hunters] need to ensure that the number, species and sex of the harvested deer have been recorded unambiguously when possible. This is to optimise census data and to set suitable hunting quotas.


Record source

Information about the record source: grey_lit

Date of publication/issue/production: 2019-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Source Reference(s):

Moloney, P. D., & Powell, Z. (2019). Estimates of the 2018 deer harvest in Victoria: results from surveys of Victorian Game Licence holders in 2018. Unpublished Client Report for the Game Management Authority. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria.

Date of record entry: 2022-11-28