Perspectives of wildlife conservation professionals on intensive deer management

Abstract

Intensive deer management (IDM) is fundamentally changing how one of the most important game species in North America is being managed, but little is known about how wildlife conservation professionals view these changes. The IDM approach encourages privatization of deer (Odocoileus spp.) through practices including feeding, high fencing, artificial insemination and markets in deer semen, and translocation. To evaluate support for IDM practices, we surveyed 208 registrants of the 2010 Southeast Deer Study Group Meeting held in San Antonio, Texas, USA. Specifically, we evaluated support for IDM practices using state-agency wildlife biologists, private wildlife managers, and academics, and we evaluated how geographic region and employment type are related to opinions about IDM. Using Principal Components Analysis, we created 3 new scales that measured respondents’ opinions about deer management, deer husbandry, and deer hunting. We detected strong opposition to IDM among respondents, with respondents from universities having the strongest opposition, followed by state-agency employees from Texas, and private consultants from Texas (the latter having the greatest support for IDM). Our study highlights the need for critical and empirical evaluation of the articulation between IDM and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, particularly the tenets that assert wildlife are held in the public trust and advocate elimination of markets for wildlife. © 2015 The Wildlife Society.