November 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 48

NUISANCE WILDLIFE

USDA Wildlife Services

No matter what the reason, those
species of wildlife that cause human-wildlife conflicts can suddenly
become a huge problem for park and
recreation agencies when their activities affect the public. So, what are
managers of parks, public spaces and
recreation resources to do when wildlife becomes a problem?

46

Human-Wildlife Conflicts
in Public Parks
Across the United States, many
types of human-wildlife conflicts
are increasing in areas where nuisance wildlife numbers are expanding. Reasons include loss of suitable
wildlife habitat, the growth of human and animal populations, and
human-caused changes to natural
environments that increase the
chances for conflict.
Nuisance wildlife species may
be native or exotic; their problem
quotient depends more on where
they are located and what they do
in relation to human activity than
where they came from. In fact, many
of the most prevalent nuisance species in parks are native. Sandy Spencer, supervisory research biologist at
Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel,
Maryland, says, " Any wildlife species has the potential to become a
nuisance to man - it all depends on
their location and numbers, and what
the human priorities are. "
Some of the most common species that become a nuisance in
parks are resident Canada geese,
white-tailed deer, beavers and wild
pigs. Other animal species, such as
seagulls, ground squirrels, coyotes,
alligators, bear, nutria and muskrats may be nuisances locally, but
due to their limited range or habitat
requirements, they don't rise to national prominence. Ironically, the
restoration of some of these species

Parks & Recreation

to their former ranges across North
America is considered a conservation success story.
White-Tailed Deer
At the turn of the 20th century, conservationists feared that white-tailed
deer could become extinct from overhunting. Strong conservation efforts
brought the species back, and the
gradual changes to landscapes in their
range, such as the clearing of forests,

the expansion of agricultural lands
and creation of more edge habitat
from residential development, have
created a greater food supply and
expanded the range for the species.
These factors combined with population management for hunting have
caused an extraordinary growth in
the population of deer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) now
estimates that there are more than 30
million deer in the continental U.S.,
the highest number of deer ever recorded. And deer have become more
than a nuisance in some areas of the
country, reportedly causing nearly $1
billion in crop damage and more than
$4 billion in damage from deer-vehicle
collisions each year.

| N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

Overabundance of deer can actually cause large-scale changes to
ecosystems as well, including significant damage to forest health from extensive browsing and loss of ground
plants and nesting areas for birds,
amphibians and mammals. Kelli Kovacevic, superintendent of natural resources management for the Morris
County Park Commission in New
Jersey, says, " The largest impact from
deer that we are trying to mitigate is
damage to forest health. Many of our
forests have little to no understory
left because deer are consuming the
native plants that are within reach to
such an extent that many species are
no longer regenerating. The lack of
native plants facilitates the establishment of invasive species, which are
an enormous problem in all of our
parks. " Other park and recreation
systems report significant losses
to landscaping, floral gardens and
demonstration farms. Some park
and recreation agencies have reported increased incidence of deer-vehicle collisions because of overconcentrations of deer in park areas near
public highways.
Practical control measures for deer
are somewhat limited due to the
range and habits of this species. Fencing of arboretums, horticultural gardens and native forests is expensive
and not practical for large areas. In
addition, the exceptional adaptability of deer allows them to browse a
huge range of plant species for food.
When park managers and naturalists
see their supposedly " deer-proof "
plantings chewed down to nubs, they
recognize that they have a problem
much bigger than they can control.
Many park agencies instituted
deer-control measures years ago when
exploding populations of deer began
to destroy the integrity of forests and
woodlands. John Watts, resource man-



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