The National Park Service Plan
Currently, the National Park Service (NPS) is advancing a plan to eliminate the deer by a combination of sharp-shooting and contraception. The plan has failed to demonstrate that the eradication of the deer is necessary, due to a lack of scientific evidence that the deer’s current population is interfering with the natural resources of the park in any significant way.
The NPS needs to undertake a feasibility study by experts in the field of wildlife contraception as a way to control the non-native deer population growth through strictly non-lethal methods, NOT SHOOTING!
The NPS has produced a Final Non-Native Deer Management Plan & Environmental Impact Statement which does not provide adequate scientific evidence that the deer are a threat to the parkšs ecological sustainability. Their report also fails to consider the more humane option of using purely non-lethal means to control the populationšs growth.
Comments from IDA and Dr Jane Goodall regarding the proposed plan can be viewed at: