"We are very happy with and encouraged by these results," says Sexton, who with Beringer and Hansen planned and conducted the study throughout 1996 and early 1997. "It appears that we will be able to keep deer numbers at Tyson controlled so that there are not too many deer for the ecosystem.
"Because Tyson Research Center is located at the edge of an expanding metro area, this study has many implications for other areas in the country," Sexton continued. "We think it is a major contribution to the solution of monitoring deer populations. One of the reasons people oppose a controlled hunt is that usually it's not clear how many deer there are in an area. This method gives you a very accurate baseline number to operate with and excellent parameters to monitor deer in a number of different habitats."
"Urban deer have become a major, growing problem," says Beringer. "We'll use this method throughout Missouri in conservation areas and elsewhere. If a community is going to have a controlled hunt, it's essential to have a sound, reliable method to count deer beforehand."
From Austin, Texas, to Chicago, Ill., to Gettysburg National Park in Pennsylvania, deer are becoming living lawn ornaments as development encroaches upon natural habitat. Deer populations have increased dramatically due to the lack of natural predators for many years and because deer cannot be hunted by humans in settled areas.
"It looks for all the world like the animals are encroaching upon huma
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Contact: Tony Fitzpatrick
p72245tf@wuvmd.wustl.edu
(314) 935-5272
Washington University in St. Louis
2-Jul-1998