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- Info
Lessons from the urban deer battlefront: a plea for tolerance
| Author: |
Rutberg, A.T. |
| Date: |
1997 |
| Periodical: |
Wildlife Society Bulletin |
| Abstract: |
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in North America may be perceived as overabundant for at least 2 sets of reasons. First, deer may be regarded as overabundant when they cause direct harm or a perception of harm to human welfare, for example by damaging crops or ornamental plantings, colliding with cars, or (allegedly) spreading Lyme disease. Here the influence of values is relatively transparent and relates to human self-interest. But the term overabundance may also be invoked at densities at which deer
cause changes in the biological world that some people consider undesirable, e.g., when "herd productivity" diminishes, a significant fraction of the population becomes diseased or starves, browse lines appear and understory vegetation disappears, or biodiversity is reduced. In these examples, people may variously diagnose overabundance because they value deer as a resource to be harvested, value the prevention of animal suffering, value biodiversity, or simply prefer that a forest look a certain way. Although the link to values may be better hidden, the values are still there (Decker et al. 1991, Rutberg 1997). |
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