Watchung Deer Management Program

1
Watchung Deer Management Program

• A Community Based Approach

2
Watchung, New Jersey

• The Reservation spans 2000 acres
• Six communities have lands within the
  reservation. Watchung is one of those communities.

3
White Tailed Deer

• Like many other towns in New Jersey, White tailed
  Deer have reached problematic numbers. This has
  caused an increase in.
• Deer-vehicle collisions
• Damage to ornamental plantings and gardens
• Destruction of the natural forest ecosystem

4
Community Based Approach

• Watchung had the community voice opinions on how
  to control the deer management population.
• Several alternatives such as immuno-fertility
  drugs, sharp shooting/ bow hunting, and capture
  and euthanization, were considered.
• The town council voted and decided on sharp
  shooting and bow hunting.

5
Town Controversy over Sharp Shooting and Bow
Hunting

• The town became divided when the town heard of
  the selected method for controlling the deer
  population
• Half of the town felt that the selected method
  was unnecessarily cruel to the deer.
• The other half of the town felt that because the
  selected method was comparably inexpensive that
  it was the correct alternative.

6
Sharp Shooting and Bow Hunting

• The NJ Division of Fish and Game found
• That archery deer hunters were estimated to have
  retrieved only 43 of the deer hit by arrows.
• These are pictures of the trail of blood of one
  deer after the first deer hunt.

7
Scientific Info

• The Union County Parks Department concluded that
  before the hunt female deer living in the
  reservation only gave birth to one fawn.
• After the hunt female deer on the reservation had
  multiple births of twins or triplets
• This shows how the selected method does not work.

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Serious changes need to be made to the selected
method to control the deer population. Within the
next few months a review of the past years
management techniques will take place. Many of
the towns people are excited to change the
inhumane method that is currently in place.