Green Options » deer

South Africa Could Soon Allow Controlled Elephant Hunts

Alex Felsinger — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 01:43:21 +0000

Once severely endangered, elephants in South Africa now thrive, causing some to worry that their population could threaten smaller species.

While some are calling to reinstate culling of elephants for the first time since 1994, other conservationists worry that the effects of killing elephants run deeper than we understand.

In 1900, the elephant population sunk to only 200 due to hunting; now, the population is estimated to be 17,000. This soaring number combined with their individual demand for feed can result in over-grazing, which hurts the rhinoceros and gazelle populations first.

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Deer Hunting for Conservation? Not So Fast, Study Says

Alex Felsinger — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:40:56 +0000

It has become conventional wisdom that culling deer is a necessary measure that humans must take in order to protect deer and their habitats from the effects of over-population. But new research has found that, in fact, areas with more deer actually have higher biodiversity.

The study, performed by researchers with the National Park Service and Ohio State University, seems to support the position of many animal rights activists have held for years—deer should be left alone.

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Oklahoma Senator Seeks Constitutional Right to Hunt

Alex Felsinger — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:06:57 +0000

Democratic Oklahoma state senator Earl Garrison has proposed a “Hunters Bill of Rights” that would guarantee the legality of hunting. He fears a ban on hunting could could happen at some point due to pressure from animal rights groups and hopes to preemptively block any attempts with a constitutional amendment.

“Animals have to be harvested,” he said. “It’s important that you have management because if you don’t, you get overpopulation, and the animals get smaller and there’s too much inbreeding.”

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Scientists Use Poop to Learn that Salmon is Just as Tasty to Wolves as Deer

Levi Novey — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:12:56 +0000

A new study in the journal BMC Ecology indicates that coastal wolves in British Columbia switch to eating salmon in the fall as a primary food source, rather than deer. Scientists arrived at this conclusion after analyzing wolf poop they collected over a four year span.

Among the thousands of stools that were collected by the researchers in the spring and summer months, 90-95% of them contained some indications that wolves were eating deer as prey. In the fall, however, this number dropped significantly. About 40-70% of the stools in this time of year indicated that wolves were dining on salmon.

So what’s the big deal?

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Anti-Fart Shots for a Cleaner Environment?

Max Lindberg — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:06:11 +0000

Aw, c’mon, pull my finger!

You’ve probably had that one pulled (pardon the pun) on you at least once in your life, and the old guy got a good laugh out of your response. It’s ok, old guys do strange things, I know.

Well, this isn’t about old guys, but sheep, cattle, deer and goats, the premier emitters of methane gas in the world. In this case, nature is “pulling the finger.”

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Losing Balance: Deer Populations Continue To Rise As Cities Struggle To Find Solutions

Michael dEstries — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 17:27:45 +0000

As more and more suburban developments spring up around the country, wildlife is being displaced at an ever-increasing rate. As a result of this growth, the natural predators of deer are being killed or removed, leaving them free to eat everything in sight. Where there's very little forest left, there are also very few hunters. Registration of hunting licenses in some places has dropped almost 40% compared to numbers in 2005. Even animal rights activists have raised the alarm that something has to be done.

The largest problem is that deer consume massive amounts of vegetation. The New York City EPA opened 330 acres of land a couple years back because deer were eating the saplings and ground cover that help filter the water that flows through watershed properties and ultimately comes out of the tap. There are whole tracks of woodlands and forests where few branches are left within a deer's reach. Wildflowers, forest regrowth, all elements that birds and other woodland creatures depend on are being put at risk.

And of course, we have no one to blame but ourselves for this problem. Once again, society has blindly marched forward without much thought of the consequences. Wolves a threat to livestock? Well, let's get rid of them then. Don't like the howl of coyotes? Let's allow hunting. See that forest over there? Let's put in a strip mall and two or three developments! Wait a minute? Why are all these deer thriving? Why are they everywhere?

The solutions to this issue are complex. Beyond hunting, nobody is sure how to control the populations. Sure, we can offer up protected lands, but you're not going to find much vocal support in allowing wolves to thrive near a community. The sad fact is, we're going to keep encroaching — and eventually, we'll win without a care to the balance we're upsetting.

Cities throughout the U.S. are starting to open up lands previously set aside. According to the article, "The towns are even going so far as to ask large property owners who might consider opening their backyards to hunters to register with police." Allowing hunting near suburban areas and cities offers it's own complications, but the problem is so dire that there's not much else that be recommended.

In the meantime, another development will go up, another coyote will be shot, and deer will continue to thrive. Add to the mix warmer winters, and we're setting ourselves up for an issue that could undermine the future of the very areas we're trying to protect. The scales are tipped.

Source: Deer Population Surge Results In Organized City Hunts