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#1311556 - 12/12/11 07:51 PM
University Confirms Deer Hunt Plan
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newsman38
Senior Member
Registered: 03/21/01
Posts: 3756
Loc: Fourth Estate
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University confirms plan to cull campus deer
A large percentage of the Nature Preserve's deer population will be selectively killed over winter break, from Dec. 20 to Jan. 20. At least 50 deer — out of the 60 to 70 deer that currently call the Nature Preserve home — will be culled.
Binghamton University will hire a private company, White Buffalo, Inc., to conduct the culling. The deer will be baited using food and then shot in the head by sharpshooters in trees to make death immediate.
The Committee for the University Environment (CUE), which is made up of BU faculty, students and staff, announced the University's plan of action during an informational meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 6, in the Mandela Room.
"I assure you this is not something the University is taking lightly," said James Van Voorst, vice president of administration at BU and co-chair of CUE. "We have been looking at this for two years."
The meeting featured a panel of CUE members including Richard Andrus, associate professor of biological and environmental sciences; Julian Shepherd, associate professor of biological sciences; and Dylan Horvath, steward of the Nature Preserve. The panel also included Anthony DeNicola, the founder and president of White Buffalo, Inc.
BU President C. Peter Magrath made the decision to hire White Buffalo to cull campus deer in mid-November, according to Shepherd.
Andrus read a statement laying out CUE's reasoning for why the deer in the Nature Preserve have to be culled.
"As stewards of our land, we may find it necessary to confront some [animal population problems] in order to prevent serious damage and even the eventual destruction of our natural communities," Andrus said. "Since there is no practical way to bring predators back, we have an obligation to the forest to save it by reducing deer numbers."
He added that BU is not "unique" in having problems with an out-of-control deer population or electing to kill the animals as a solution.
"Many colleges, universities, parks and municipalities have faced similar or different dilemmas from excess deer," Andrus said. "The unfortunate thing is that if we do nothing, not only will the forest die off but the deer will then starve as they will be missing their habitat."
Shepherd said he believes culling the deer was the only viable option. He said that the deer have done so much damage within the Nature Preserve that there has been little to no successful reproduction of trees in 40 to 50 years and a dozen species of wild flowers are gone from the area.
"One domineering species is not worth the loss of all these other species," Shepherd said.
Horvath showed a PowerPoint presentation with data about deer on campus. He said that he had counted 45 to 55 deer and estimated that there are 60 to 70 in total. He said BU's goal is to reduce that number to 8 to 10 deer.
Numbers of deer nationwide have risen steadily since the 1990s, according to Horvath. He cited statistics that the U.S. deer population has risen from 500,000 to 20 million since the 1990s and New York ‘s deer population has risen from 20,000 to 1 million during the same time period.
A handout given out at last Tuesday's meeting said that CUE had considered several possible options for dealing with the deer population, including culling, relocating numbers of the animals and using animal birth control pills.
Horvath said culling was seen as the best option because CUE expects it will effectively reduce the deer population quickly and because the venison will be distributed to the needy through Hunters Feeding the Hungry. He acknowledged, though, that the culling would be bad publicity for BU.
New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has the authority to issue permits to allow deer culling out of hunting season, which is from Nov. 19 to Dec. 11 in the Southern Tier. BU is in the process of obtaining a permit, according to Shepard.
Ryan Huling, the manager of college campaigns and outreach for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), said he thinks any killing of deer, especially on college campuses, is "pointless" and inhumane.
By Susan Lamb
Pipe Dream News
Published: Sunday, December 11, 2011
Updated: Monday, December 12, 2011 08:12
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#1311560 - 12/12/11 08:27 PM
Re: University Confirms Deer Hunt Plan
[Re: newsman38]
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Tabbytails
Senior Member
Registered: 02/20/06
Posts: 1047
Loc: Here Abouts.
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"A handout given out at last Tuesday's meeting said that CUE had considered several possible options for dealing with the deer population, including culling, relocating numbers of the animals and using animal birth control pills."
I wonder where they would have relocated them to if they had chosen this option. Deer seem to be shoulder to shoulder everywhere.
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#1311733 - 12/14/11 10:51 AM
Re: University Confirms Deer Hunt Plan
[Re: Tabbytails]
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Quixote
Member
Registered: 10/14/11
Posts: 237
Loc: Madrid
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https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-the-Deer-Slaughter-at-Binghamton-University/260897470631795
The NYS DEC is currently dreaming about what they'll do with all that money they'll make selling drilling permits and could care less if the deer population starved itself out of existence. Auto insurers and farmers don't care either.
If it didn't cost an arm and a leg and a rectal exam to buy a gun, take a Hunter Training Safety Course, buy a License etc., the deer population might be better controlled. People that think it's cute to feed the deer are doing more damage than good, especially in densely populated suburbs.
Selective harvesting of fawn bearing Doe (not shooting everything that moves) would be a smarter solution to B.U.'s problem. Tranquilizing and euthanasia (although more labor intensive and expensive) could create an opportunity for the DEC to study the population and make appropriate decisions as to harvest numbers for that area, instead of relying on road kills for research.
Google White Buffalo Inc. There are some interesting articles about how those folks handled some NPS contracts out west.
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