A recent editorial in the Times Colonist, Province should lead on deer issue, calls on science and research for deer management.
The Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society is happy that the province is going to be providing some leadership and funding for the management of urban deer. We are particularly pleased to see that some funding will go towards research projects.
The UWSS has been calling for science based solutions, in particular immuno-contraception as a long term and sustainable solution, along with the collection of scientific information to help inform urban deer ecology – multiple and proper deer counts that provide information on numbers and deer movement patterns being particularly important.
The province has also called for socially acceptable solutions and immuno-contraception provides a good fit.
While the province is ultimately responsible for deer, there needs to be regional coordination and long term planning, and municipalities must still undertake responsibility for public education in their communities on ways to co-exist with deer, and human-deer conflict reduction strategies such as speed enforcement, enforcement of no-feeding bylaws, appropriate signage and accessing the expertise of wildlife biologists.
The UWSS looks forward to being part of the solution!