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- Info
Deer-human interactions and research in the Chicago metropolitan area
| Author: |
Witham, James H.; Jones, Jon M. |
| Date: |
1987 |
| Periodical: |
In: Adams, L.W.; Leedy, D.L., eds. Integrating Man and Nature in the Metropolitan Environment: Proceedings of the National Symposium on Urban Wildlife; 1986 November 4-7; Chevy Chase, MD. Columbia, MD: National Institute for Urban Wildlife |
| Abstract: |
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) possess adaptive characteristics that enable effective utilization of habitats near human population centers-an increasingly common occurrence in North America (Shoesmith and Koonz 1977, Ashley 1982, Iker 1983, Moen 1984). In such areas, the resultant increased frequency of deer-human interactions produces wildlife management challenges that require a complex blending of ecological, political, and socio-economic considerations. eer numbers in the greater Chicago metropolitan area of northeastern Illinois have increased substantially since the 1960's. In Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States with more than five million human residents, a system of county forest preserves sustains sizeable deer herds amidst areas of intensive suburban development. Interacting factors of a high density human population, large numbers of deer, and inviolate, but increasingly insular habitat, currently foster a seemingly ubiquitous array of deer-human encounters. In this paper we: (1) describe typical deer-human interactions in Cook County, and (2) discuss the role of the Chicago Urban Deer Study as a precursor to an urban deer management program. |
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