600 femelles chevreuils enceintes pourraient être tuées

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600 femelles chevreuils à queue blanche, enceintes pourraient être tuées pour une étude !


Delaware/USA


Deer study may include killing 600 does

News Journal file/FRED COMEGYS
Whitetail deer roam Cape Henlopen State Park. The state's plan to study the deer population has drawn some controversy, as the project is expected to cost tens of thousands of dollars and calls for the killing of 600 deer.



By MOLLY MURRAY
The News Journal
11/29/2005
Among the great mysteries of whitetail deer in Delaware are just how big the herd is, how fast it is reproducing and how best to manage the burgeoning population.

But the state's plan to get answers to those questions could be controversial, wildlife officials concede.

Tonight they plan to outline a three-part proposal to gather data that will allow them to better understand how and where deer populations are growing in the state.

Among the most controversial parts: hiring sharpshooters to kill a survey sample of 600 pregnant deer.

"It wouldn't be fair for me to comment" before wildlife officials have a chance to outline their proposal, said Charles P. "Chip" West II, president of the Delaware branch of the Quality Deer Management Association, a national organization that encourages state officials and landowners to manage for healthy deer populations.

"Do we need deer data? Yes, we do," he said. "But there are many ways to get the data."

Under the proposal, the first step is to take infrared photographs of the state from the air, a project expected to cost about $80,000, said E. Greg Moore, the state wildlife administrator.

The pictures will give wildlife biologists a snapshot of places in the state where deer populations are most plentiful, Moore said.

The next step is to hire a team of sharpshooters through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Service shooting team. That is expected to cost $50 to $100 a deer, he said.

The group, hunting mostly at night and using rifles, sound suppressors and infrared spotting scopes, would selectively kill 600 female deer from key areas in the state, Moore said. That part of the plan could be controversial because Delaware doesn't allow ordinary hunters to use rifles for deer hunting, nor is hunting at night allowed.

Moore said the kill isn't a hunt, in the style that a sportsman would go out and try to shoot a deer. Rather, he said, it is a scientific collection of specific samples, from specific areas, many of which are usually inaccessible to the average hunter.

The female deer, at the time of the kill, would be well along in pregnancy. (ENCEINTES DE PLUSIEURS MOIS....)


State wildlife biologists plan to collect the fetuses from the does to gather information for a detailed population survey, Moore said. In addition, they would take brain tissue samples as they continue to monitor for chronic wasting disease. So far, the disease hasn't been found in Delaware's whitetail deer population.

Moore said the detailed survey is needed because state officials have little hard data on the size, condition or population growth rates of the herd. An estimate done several years ago placed the population at about 30,000 animals, he said.

Damage to crops

A key missing link in the data is reproduction rates, Moore said.

That is one reason why state officials would like to target data collection on reproducing females.

They believe, based on anecdotal evidence, that a typical doe in the state has twins and possibly even triplets. But having real data on reproduction will let state officials know how fast the present population is growing and where it is headed in the future, Moore said.

Deer, while a native species, have expanded in some areas beyond the carrying capacity of local woods. They can be spotted everywhere from downtown Wilmington to the shores of Assawoman Bay. In some parts of Delaware, whitetail deer eat corn, soybean and vegetable crops to the tune of about $1 million in damage a year.

In urban and suburban northern Delaware, deer tend to congregate in state parks, and the damage to native plants can be extensive, Moore said.

These types of scientific surveys are not uncommon, said James C. Kroll, a professor and director of the forestry department at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas. "There's a lot to be learned," he said.

The average number of fetuses can be used to predict how fast the population is growing, he said.

'Do it right'

Bob Leonard, with the animal rights group Delaware Action for Animals, said he believes state wildlife officials have managed deer for hunting and because of that find themselves with a population that is out of control.

Leonard said he doesn't have a problem with a study that involves killing 600 deer if the study has a specific goal, is peer-reviewed and ultimately results in a reduction in hunting -- especially in state parks. In addition, he said, he would like to know how state officials plan to use the data they get from this study.

"If they are going to spend money to do it, they ought to do it right," he said. "Is DNREC really qualified to do a sophisticated study?"

'A very valuable resource'

Jacob Bowman, an assistant professor in the University of Delaware department of entomology and applied ecology, has been working with state wildlife officials to come up with the study plan.

With good reproduction data, state officials can eventually look at a number of factors, including whether hunting is having an impact on the overall population, Bowman said.

Moore said state wildlife officials have almost no data now to guide them as they manage the state deer population.

"Whitetail deer is a very valuable resource in the state," he said. "This is a one-time sample. If there was any other way, we would do it."

Contact Molly Murray 856-7372 or mmurray@delawareonline.com.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051129/NEWS/511290337/-1/NEWS01

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