The partnership continues!

The partnership continues!

We are happy to confirm that another year of provincial and municipal funding has been approved for this multi-year research project on urban deer and the impact of immuno-contraception (IC) as a  deer population management tool.  The Provincial Urban Deer Cost Share Project (PUDAC) has accepted the 2022 application prepared by the UWSS on behalf of Oak Bay.

In 2022 the data collection and analysis will continue, allowing our scientists to determine the impact of the decrease in fawn abundance on the adult deer population, as fewer fawns will be maturing into adulthood.  You will also see our field team out and about in their flashy orange vests, in early to mid-April, checking on collar fits and anything else that may need our attention.  We’ve really appreciated community eyes on Oak Bay’s deer, letting us know if a collar appears too snug, or if one of the tagged deer has an injury.  Whenever possible, we really appreciate photographs (taken safely) and locations, which can be sent to info@uwss.ca

White-tailed deer in boreal landscapes

White-tailed deer in boreal landscapes

The native deer species here in greater Victoria is the Columbian black-tailed deer. But our lead scientist Jason Fisher and colleague Cole Burton have a new paper in the journal Ecology and Evolution on white-tailed deer in north-eastern Alberta.

They found that oil and gas features play a key role in sustaining the expansion of white-tailed deer northward into boreal landscapes. The infographic, right, explains the key findings of the paper.

Original research paper: Spatial structure of reproductive success infers mechanisms of white-tailed deer invasion of boreal landscapes. http://buff.ly/2KEMMJT