What Is The Best Way To Impact On The Deer Population - Essay Example

Deer Management in New York State Deer a ruminant mammal is a wild beast that is literally harmless to human beings. The animal is lavish in most states in USA and New York states falls among the abundant habitants of the deer. Following wild beast protection laws, deer’s population has been increasing rampantly in the previous years. Unlike most wild beasts, that attack human physically, the deer hurts human beings indirectly but poses a great damage. The higher the population of the deer the higher the associated risks and thus it deems necessary to reduce their numbers. As a matter of fact, the hunters believe that wild animals should be kept in low numbers has proved to make more sense in treatment of deer as compared to animal protectionist. The deer poses problems to the whole community. First, the deer attacks specific plant species to obtaining food. The recorded high population of deer has reduced some indigenous plants rendering some of the extinct. This follows the fact that the animal is selective despite it being observed to consume any green matter during starvation times. On depleting preferred species in the natural forests, the deer community poses a threat to farmers and land owners by attacking their crops. Secondly, the deer is associated to many road accidents with some areas being marked as hotspots. During mating the buck chases the doe and can easily knock a fast moving vehicle resulting to a mere accident. As a matter of fact, deer accidents reported have been increasing leading to serious injuries or death of both the deer and the vehicle occupants. The worst of all is that, despite over 60% of road accidents being caused by deer, the insurance companies pose questions on the causality of the accident. It is to the knowledge of every one, starting from the federal government, state government, wild life protecting organizations, and the whole community that the large population of deer is posing a great threat to human life. Acting in the absence of the federal government, which has no mandate over wildlife, the state communities are now striving to reduce the number deer in existence as well as reducing the damage. Several methods have been put forward towards achieving this goal. To start with, farmers have taken the forefront to guard their property from destruction by the deer. Local officials, farmers and other land-owners especially those living in suburbs have had their property surrounded by fences. Fences vary from the low sized ones used to guide vegetables to over ten foot high propylene meshed fenced, not to forget electric fences that surround the defended areas leaving the outside ground uncovered. Although this works straight to the fence holder, it cannot be considered a national defense as natural forests as well as road accidents are not taken into consideration. Moreover the fenced ground portions make the state look more of a prison than a community resident. Having in mind the general risks that existence of large deer population pose to the community, the best decision would be to reduce their numbers. Arguments on the best method of reducing the population create a great debate, which needs a critical evaluation to obtain, the best and in this case the most effective in solving the problem. However, deer management is a societal issue that not only needs proper evaluation but also a considerably enough time to implement. As a matter of fact if an instant solution was to be implemented, then it would invite hunters and poachers who would indeed reverse the game rules to fit their desires. Firstly we have the scientific methods of reducing the population gradually which focus on two physiological processes; nutrition and reproduction. On nutrition, the deer is either poisoned or left top starve. Both of these processes are enhanced by use of certain chemicals. This method has mostly been adopted by farmers and only scares the deer from destructing crops rather than starving it, as there are other food options. Sterilization on the other hand has also been advocated as a solution. The use of the term ‘deer condom’ is wildly in use as a revolt against killing the deer. However, taking into consideration the extent of harm that the deer is posing then before sterilization takes effect, we would all be dead. Moreover the scientific approaches are not only less effective but also very expensive, in terms of chemicals and labour. Having observed the inefficiencies of the above options, it sounds wise to allow hunters impact on the deer population. Hunters do not only destruct the deer but also harvest the deer’s useful parts. Venison and antler make the deer’s carcass very valuable. However to avoid exaggerated damage to wildlife deer hunting has to be controlled. The department of environmental conservation in New York is responsible for this control and issues deer management permits as well as sets the hunting season. The number of permits determines the percentage of deer population that will be reduced. However as the deer population is still above normal, with some wildlife management units especially in their southern part of New York State requiring that more than 40% of adult deer be eliminated, more permits need to be issued. Probably the most threatening deer species is the white tail deer. The killing should be almost proportional in terms of sex, with more does being eliminated than bucks. In a nutshell, it’s evident that deer population is posing a serious problem to the United States natives. With several options to consider from, killing some deer under controlled terms is the best way to solving the problem as it has been observed by the department of environmental conservation. Considering the damage, it would be wise to ignore wildlife rights and protectionists and bring the number of deer top the lowest levels possible, only ensuring that the species does not become extinct. This would be achieved by increasing permits, that increase the number of hunters killed by the hunters and prolonging hunting periods that has the same effect. Work cited "There have been three fatal deer/motor vehicle accidents in Central New York this year | syracuse.com." The Post-Standard - syracuse.com. N.p., 11 Nov. 3013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. Associate press. "N.Y. village would curb deer population with birth control, not bullets | syracuse.com." The Post-Standard - syracuse.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. Deer Management Assistance Program - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation." New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. Rue, Leonard L. Whitetail Savvy: New Research and Observations About America's Most Popular Big Game Animal. , 2013. Print. Read More