Why can't we just transport the deer to a different location?
Why can't we kill the deer to manage the population?
How will you know if the sterilization study is working?
How can we stop more deer from coming to our area from other places (i.e. New Jersey)? Can we put up a fence?
It would be impractical, cost prohibitive, and dangerous to capture and move hundreds of white-tailed deer off of Staten Island. More importantly, it is illegal to transport white-tailed deer between counties in New York State, in order to stem the potential spread of disease. Counties throughout the northeast are struggling to manage their own white-tailed deer populations, so there simply is no place where we can move these deer.
Under current local law, it is illegal to hunt or discharge a firearm within city limits. These laws would need to be changed in order to institute a lethal management plan. Public opinion has indicated a preference to explore non-lethal methods and to use lethal management as a last resort.
The main purpose of the deer sterilization study is to reduce environmental impacts caused by expanding deer populations. These impacts include deer/vehicle collisions, the presence of tick related illness, and forest degradation. In addition to seeing an improvement in these impacts, we should also see a measurable decline in deer population over several years because fewer young will be born. Monitoring of the impacts of the study will begin in the Spring of 2017.
While some white-tailed deer may have originated in New Jersey, the current recent population increase is due to resident deer breeding and expanding their range. Migration from outside of Staten Island is minimal and does not add significantly to our resident deer population.