Oak Bay, a chronically picturesque suburban community on the southern coast of Vancouver Island, is one of thirteen municipalities that are part of the Greater Victoria urban area of B.C., collectively known as the Capital Regional District. And, it has what is a problem to some of the residents, although to me it would be an asset: a population of mule deer living within the community overall.
When I met Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen in February, 2015, I liked him personally, even though I opposed his support for culling deer. Certainly, there were legitimate concerns about the deer, starting with the sad fact that around 40 died after being struck by cars or entangled or impaled by fences each year. Non-lethal ways of reducing numbers, such as fertility control and translocation, were “off limits” thanks to a then intransigent provincial government, which has jurisdiction over deer management. Catching the deer in collapsible traps and then killing them was, however, a brutal non-solution to concerns about the animals, including their consumption of some garden plants and getting into nasty conflicts with dogs, seen by deer as threats to fawns. The boldness of the deer, so charming to some, frightened or annoyed others.
We recommended that people be better taught to co-exist with the deer, and warned Jensen and council (up for re-election next month) that culling does not work, and can lead to “rebound” effects whereby reduced competition for resources ultimately leads to more, not fewer, deer.
Colleagues, including local activists, advocated two things: learn more about the deer and develop an effective, cost-effective alternative to lethal culling. The eleven deer killed over a sixteen-day cull in 2015 cost the community about $1,500 per deer and resolved nothing, proving our concerns and warnings were valid.
I won’t go through the complexities of negotiations that led to the current situation, but what is planned is that the immunocontraceptive vaccine, Zonastat-D, is to be used to reduce deer fertility, pending (as I write) final permission from the province. Normally, such fertility control is unlikely to work, since deer populations are fluid and mobile and the size of any given number is determined by the support the environment provides. Therefore, as fewer deer are born, other deer move in, a process called “recruitment.” But, it seems that the Oak Bay deer consist of a relatively contained population, which should reduce recruitment and lower their numbers.
And Mayor Jensen? I was delighted to hear him on the radio defending the plan and speaking knowledgeably about deer, which is a sharp contrast to three years ago.
Zonastat-D is safe for the deer and for deer predators and scavengers. While the drug’s effects last less than two years, it is hoped that a longer-lasting one can be developed. The upfront cost is some $40,000, but in the longterm it should be cost effective, and best of all, unlike culling, it has a very good chance of reducing the deer population of Oak Bay.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Barry