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DEPARTMENT TO TRAP, RELOCATE MULE DEER IN SILVER CITY AREA

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New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Media contact: Rachel Shockley, (505) 476-8071
Public contact: (888) 248-6966
Rachel.shockley@state.nm.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JAN. 27, 2014:

DEPARTMENT TO TRAP, RELOCATE MULE DEER IN SILVER CITY AREA
SILVER CITY – Department of Game and Fish biologists are working to reduce the high population of mule deer in Silver City by capturing and relocating them. Some Silver City area residents are concerned that the deer are causing damage to landscapes and that they pose a human safety risk because they increase the chances of deer-vehicle collisions.

“Due to concerns for public safety and to help alleviate damage to private property, the department plans to capture and relocate 100 mule deer from Silver City,” said Ryan Darr, the department’s deer and pronghorn biologist.

This is the second year the department has removed and relocated mule deer from Silver City, and is part of ongoing population-control efforts that include population reduction hunts and trapping and moving deer.

The capture will take five days, beginning Tuesday, Jan. 28. About 30 department staff, including biologists and conservation officers, will be assisted by participants from New Mexico State University to trap and relocate the deer.

The department plans to capture the deer using large drop nets placed at select locations throughout the city.

Biologists will administer veterinary care to each deer and place an ear tag for later identification. Some deer will be equipped with radio collars and veterinarians will implant a few pregnant does with radio transmitters to determine the location of fawns once they are born. Researchers from the department and New Mexico State University will use the radio transmitters to track the deer after their release.

Managers will release the mule deer far from urban areas at sites where they hope to boost declining mule deer populations. Half of the deer will be released in the San Francisco River Valley and the remainder will be moved to the Peloncillo Mountains. Biologists hope that the high-quality habitat of the release sites will increase the odds of survival and that deer populations will continue to increase at the sites.

Professor James Cain and graduate student Jana Ashling from New Mexico State University will help the department study the movements, habitat preferences and reproductive success of the relocated deer. This research will provide biologists with important insights into the effectiveness of relocating overabundant mule deer from urban areas to help bolster low mule deer populations in undeveloped natural habitats.

The results of the study could lead to new ways for biologists to restore mule deer herds that are in decline in parts of New Mexico and throughout the western United States.

 Mule deer feed under a drop net
NM Game and Fish Questions?
January 27th, 2014 | Tags: , , , | Category: Announcements, News

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