Take a trip down to South Campus or a short walk past the Quad and the problem is clear: There are too many deer in Syracuse. They are crossing our roads, munching grass in our backyards and even standing on our roofs.

The white-tailed deer has found refuge in Syracuse’s safe, hunting-free habitat. But even though the deer may be happy here in Syracuse, their human neighbors are not. The overpopulation of deer has resulted in property damage, car accidents and an increased chance of contracting Lyme disease.

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As an animal rights activist, it’s hard to decide which solution to the deer overpopulation problem I should support. I have ethical issues with supporting hunting, but the deer are a danger to the humans they live alongside.

Because hunting isn’t allowed in Syracuse, these deer need some kind of population management. The best solution would be to add a check to the population that is not naturally or legally in place now: hiring professionals to cull, or kill, the deer.

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When it comes to dealing with deer overpopulation, Syracuse isn’t alone. Deer are running rampant across New York state. State Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter (D-Syracuse) has pushed for bills requiring the Department of Environmental Conservation to report on deer management techniques in urban and suburban areas. The problem is so extensive that the state gave the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry a grant to develop methods of curbing the deer population.

SUNY-ESF’s grant is essential because the problem isn’t going away on its own. Syracuse’s deer population has been growing at a rate of about 30 percent for the past three years, said Brian Underwood, a research wildlife biologist and an adjunct associate professor at SUNY-ESF.

Underwood is a part of the SUNY-ESF team tasked with telling municipalities about the deer situation and how they can curb it. His team has to compile deer population information from municipalities around the state, but New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation doesn’t have all the information the SUNY-ESF team needs.

“The DEC in many ways is strained because the only way they get information about the deer population is through regulated harvest,” Underwood said. “And since you can’t do that in cities and most municipalities, you don’t really get that data from within those areas.”

That’s where universities like SUNY-ESF come in. Underwood’s team is able to go out, get deer counts and gather other information it needs on its own.

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So far, Underwood’s team has found sharpshooting, or culling, to be an effective method of immediately reducing the deer population. It’s expensive because the city would have to hire professionals to come in and do the job. But it’s expedient, and the state did allot $50,000 for implementing a solution to the overpopulation.

The other curbing option, fertility control, is not as efficient. Municipalities have to wait at least five to 10 years to see a population decline, Underwood said.

Professional hunting is relatively painless for deer, especially considering how overpopulation increases the chances of deer dying painful deaths in roadside collisions or by disease and starvation. Venison is also often donated to food kitchens, which helps the community.

There’s no arguing that deer have a direct, negative impact on the health of their habitat and the humans they share it with, and humans’ impact on deer isn’t healthy, either. Syracuse needs an immediate solution to this problem, and culling appears to be the best bet.

It’s not an easy decision to make, especially for those passionate about animal rights activism. But without enough natural checks on the deer population, humans and deer are suffering.

Allison Weis is a freshman newspaper and online journalism major. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at [email protected].

Published on November 13, 2017 at 9:44 pm