At the February 9, 2016, Oak Bay Council meeting, Council deferred discussion on their philosophy of deer management in Oak Bay from the February 15 Committee of the Whole Meeting to the March 21 Committee of the Whole. Unfortunately, with the deferral, the opportunity for the municipality to apply for $10,000 from the Interim Provincial Cost-Share Program for Deer Management, have ended for this fiscal year.

The UWSS requested Council maintain discussion of submitting an application to the province for $10,000, specifically for a values-based community attitudes survey, for their February 15 meeting, leaving the rest of our five-point proposal for discussion in March.

An attitudes survey would determine exactly what community concerns are. Such a survey has already been prepared by independent experts and reviewed by our Science Advisory Group.

We believe that a council discussion on deer management in the Oak Bay Community would benefit from scientifically collected and statistically valid data.

Read a comprehensive overview of the 5 point proposal the Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society has prepared.

We are disappointed that District of Oak Bay Council has delayed its decision on our coordinated deer management plan to March. We will remain hopeful though, that a decision will come sooner rather than later. In the meantime, the following op-ed by our president, Bryan Gates, was posted in the Times/Colonist Feb 13th. Bryan is a retired manager of wildlife resources with the Ministry of Environment.

Scientific approach could make us a leader on deer
Source: Bryan Gates

The management of urban deer continues to create controversy across B.C., as municipalities grapple with how to balance the wishes of residents who consider deer a nuisance to be eradicated against the wishes of those who enjoy the presence of deer and would like non-lethal policies to reduce human-deer conflict.

Most municipal governments view urban deer as a provincial issue and want the province to provide guidance and funding. In response, the province last fall unveiled the Interim Provincial Urban Deer Operational Cost-Share Program to which municipalities can apply for support for ready-to-go proposals.

The Greater Victoria-based Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society has proposed a comprehensive program for Oak Bay that is ready for implementation and which could be the cost-effective gold standard for the province and beyond. Along with humanely stabilizing and reducing the urban deer population in areas where the number has been scientifically determined to be high, our proposal would showcase what’s possible when a community works together and thinks long-term and ethically about how humans can co-exist with indigenous wildlife.

Our recently submitted proposal to Oak Bay council meets the “scientifically rigorous” requirements of the province’s cost-share program and fits with recommendations from wildlife biologists, scientists, the province and the Capital Regional District for an effective deer-management program.

The first component is public education, which is the best way to address health and safety concerns. This can engage a community in a positive and non-divisive manner, reduce human-deer conflict and build an understanding of roles and responsibilities in managing deer in an urban environment. It needs to be ongoing and provided through multiple channels, keeping in mind that problems that develop over a long time defy quick and easy solutions.

And, while the province has stepped up with an offer to costshare, each municipality has its own perceptions and tolerance of deer. This is why some responsibility for deer management must be accepted and financed by local governments. Partnerships among the two levels of government and the community are essential to success.

The second is determining and documenting community concerns, attitudes and interactions with deer through a survey of residents. A survey has already been developed and reviewed by independent experts. It would collect information on how concerned residents are about deer on their properties and in Oak Bay generally, whether the level and types of concerns vary by neighbourhood, and the types of issues that cause concern.

Generally, municipalities react to complaints, and while complaints do inform a government of some concerns, they are skewed toward negative comments and often don’t provide a comprehensive picture of community values. The stewardship society believes that if residents understand there are feasible, non-lethal, humane, sustainable and economical alternatives to the invariably expensive, ineffective and divisive approach of lethal culls, they would strongly support them.

Third is the development of a scientifically rigorous population model, which would be used to understand, explain and predict the number of deer in the district and establish the best population goal. An independent contractor or graduate student would use existing data along with observations to model the four elements of a deer population – birth rates, death rates, immigration and emigration.

Fourth, scientifically administered deer counts must take place to provide a baseline understanding of environmental capacity, urban deer trends and movement patterns, including seasonal deer counts, such as the one that was conducted in the fall of 2015 by the CRD with the participation of stewardship-society biologists.

Finally, our project calls for the inoculation of does with an immunocontraceptive. This part of the project is intended to manage deer in Oak Bay to a scientifically defined population objective by making does sterile and reducing the number of fawns born each spring, without creating vacant territory into which other deer will move. This approach has been tried with success in several jurisdictions, including locally at James Island and CFB Esquimalt.

No one denies that human-deer conflict needs to be addressed in urban areas. A citizens’ group of scientists, biologists, educators and past and present public servants overseen by a scientific advisory group has done the research and pulled together a comprehensive and thoughtful proposal to help solve the issues and with the potential to position Greater Victoria as a world leader in this area.

Having tried the alternative, it’s now time to turn to a science-driven, evidence-based approach.

Bryan Gates is president of the Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society and is the former manager of wildlife resources for B.C.’s Ministry of Environment

The UWSS has submitted a 5 point comprehensive deer management program to the Mayor and Council of Oak Bay. The proposal was prepared by the UWSS and reviewed by its Science Advisory Group

As a citizen’s group with experts on our board and Science Advisory Group, with a collective and deep knowledge of Oak Bay, we believe we are in a good position to help Oak Bay manage our urban deer issues.

The document meets the “scientifically rigorous” standards of the Province’s urban deer cost-share funding program and fits with recommendations from wildlife biologists, scientists, the province, and the CRD for an effective deer management program.

Unfortunately, we were not made aware of the Provincial Cost-Share Guide until very recently, so the January 8 deadline for applications has passed. However, we understand that the province will consider late applications. We are therefore hopeful that our proposal will be considered at tonight’s (January 25) council meeting where urban deer are on the agenda.

At this time we are requesting $10,000 for up to the end of March (to be matched by the province) to address certain programs within our proposal. Additional funding will be requested for next year’s fiscal budget to address remaining aspects, including immunocontraception.

A big thank you to the many residents of Oak Bay who have sent in photos of deer seen within our community. These images are a valuable contribution to our program to determine the number of deer residing within the municipality.

Along with scientifically designed road counts, which will be repeated seasonally, the photo inventory will provide information on trends in numbers and movement patterns. For instance, we know that bucks tend to wander greater distances than does, and with the help of your photos we hope to determine which individuals stay within Oak Bay and which may wander into Saanich, Victoria or even further afield.

We’re encouraged by the number of photos received so far and ask that you continue to provide more. Digital images along with the date and location of each photo can be sent to [email protected]. Right now, we’re particularly interested in the bucks while they still have their antlers. They’ll shed those antlers within the next few weeks, which will add to the challenge of positive identification.