Final Report on Deer Cull Recommends Cull/Sterilization Continue Through 2020

by Patricia Lesko

The Council packet for the Mar. 20 City Council meeting includes the Deer Management: White Buffalo Report. The 22-page Year One Summary report includes information about the methods used to both harvest 96 deer and sterilize 54 females. The contractor spent 308 person-hours for the sharpshooting activities “resulting in 3.2 person-hours per deer harvested,” according to the report dated Mar. 10, 2017. White Buffalo founder and executive director Tony DeNicola says the experimental two-pronged harvest should be continued for three-five years. In Nov. 2016, City Council voted 9-2 to approve a $153,940 contract with White Buffalo Inc. to kill up to 100 deer in parks and nature areas and to dart and sterilize up to 60 female deer. Ann Arbor officials expected to spend $250,000 total on deer management in 2017.

Tanya Hilgendorf, president of the Humane Society of Huron Valley, has repeatedly said there is no overpopulation problem, no disease threat and no deer suffering. She has said that resident complaints about landscape damage done by deer browsing should be solved without killing.

The two votes in Nov. 2016 against the cull were cast Mayor Chris Taylor (D) and Chip Smith (D-Ward 5). However, in May 2014 Taylor voted to set the cull in motion. He voted to authorize the City Administrator to “approve and permit the control and management of wildlife that causes property damage or creates a nuisance or health hazard, but the permitting for such actions must be coordinated with and issued by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.”

The 2016 culling of 63 deer, and 2017 culling and sterilization of 150 deer in Ann Arbor has been a controversial wildlife management practice. The Michigan DNR issued a permit allowing White Buffalo, the contractor hired by City Council, to carry out a combined harvest/sterilization. The sterilization of the deer is an experimental procedure. It was the first time the Michigan DNR had sanctioned the surgical sterilization of wild deer.

On Mar. 7, 2017, The Ann Arbor Independent reported that in Pennsylvania the state Game Commission refused to grant a permit to a town to use the same deer management plan used in Ann Arbor. In Mount Lebanon, Penn., White Buffalo, the same Connecticut-based animal management organization contracted to reduce deer density in Ann Arbor, was refused permission by the state to use the same experimental, two-pronged deer population control program used this past Feb. in several Ann Arbor parks and nature areas.

White Buffalo’s Mar. 10 Year One Summary report to Ann Arbor City Council includes a description of female deer sterilization:

Surgical Procedure

Upon arrival at the temporary surgical suite, all deer were premedicated with flunixin meglumine at a dosage of 2 mg/kg IM and a long acting antibiotic (ceftiofur) at 4 mg/kg IM. To maintain anesthesia, supplemental doses of ketamine HCl (5-10 mg/kg) were given intravenously as needed. Females were sterilized with a routine prepubic ventral midline laparotomy exposing the uterine horns and ovaries. We perform bilateral ovariectomies using a combination of clamping, electrocautery, and excision for removal of the ovary, and electrosurgical vessel sealing (Ligasure) to prevent hemorrhage. Intraoperative splash blocks and direct injection of lidocaine and bupivacaine are used to give up to 8 hours pain relief in addition to the flunixin. Following ovariectomy, a routine three layer closure of the abdomen is performed to complete the procedure using absorbable suture. All deer were returned proximate to the capture location, in areas with the lowest likelihood of human disturbance during recovery. The reversal agent tolazoline HCL (200 mg IV and 100 mg IM) was administered, and each individual was monitored during recovery.

On Feb. 4, 2017 MLive reported that a sterilized deer “in distress” had been euthanized:

The deer was found in a state of distress and was euthanized on Friday, Feb. 3, according to the city and White Buffalo Inc., the Connecticut-based wildlife control contractor hired by the city to carry out the sterilization experiment.

On Friday morning, a resident reported a tagged doe appeared to be in poor shape, and Tony DeNicola, president of White Buffalo Inc., responded and located the deer, according to the city.

The deer, found off Geddes Avenue, had ear tags with the number 32 on them, tags put in place nine days earlier on Jan. 25 when the deer underwent ovary removal as part of a first-of-its kind research experiment for the state of Michigan. White Buffalo has done similar research in other states.

According to a report about the incident released by Ann Arbor officials in Feb. 2017: “Upon examination, the sterilization incision appeared to be healed and was not infected and there were no signs of bleeding, discharge or trauma. However, because the animal was in distress, Dr. DeNicola decided that the humane course of action was to euthanize the deer by injection.”

White Buffalo’s One Year Summary report alleges that the deer population in Ann Arbor is 50 percent higher than previously thought: “Approximately 50% more deer were observed this year than last year (315 vs ~200). This does not necessarily reflect a 50% increase in deer abundance, but an increase in detection using adjusted methods. This method does not detect all deer present and therefore a correction factor (CF) needs to be determined to adjust the number of deer observed. We used CFs that were as balanced as possible given all the variables under consideration.” The contractor estimates that Ann Arbor has an average of 94 deer per square mile, and that Wards 1 and 2 are home to approximately 450 deer.

The 2014 resolution that directed the City Administrator to hire contractors to help manage the city’s deer population was sponsored by Council members in Wards 1 and 2. That resolution stated: “Scientific studies indicate deer densities of 15-20 per square mile or less are considered a more optimal level for public health (e.g., tick population), safety (e.g., traffic collisions) and landscape management purposes.”

While Ann Arbor City Council has not voted to extend White Buffalo’s contract or to continue with a cull and/or sterilization of its deer population, under Year One Objectives, the White Buffalo report submitted to Council states: “Our primary objective was to assess the complementary effect of lethal management in larger wooded areas proximate to sterilization efforts in dense suburban neighborhoods. We met the stated objectives for the first year of the five year project (i.e., cull ~100 deer and sterilize >90% of adult females in the study areas). ”

The company’s report also mentions the fact that under the auspices of its state permit sharpshooters are no longer required to refrain from discharging their guns within 450 feet of a residence or building.

Now that the 450’ discharge restriction has been eliminated this will allow for sharpshooting methods to be viable in all areas of the City other than the existing surgical sterilization study areas. If this change is coupled with the use of private lands the potential for lethal management in more areas throughout the City greatly increases. For example, during the helicopter snow count numerous deer were sighted in the area encompassed by Geddes road to the south, Huron Parkway to the West, Plymouth Road to the North, and US 23 to the East. We were unable to sharpshoot deer in this area because of the 450’ restriction. There is ample open space for safe sharpshooting operations if the Council decides to use this method in this area and private landowners cooperate.

White Buffalo’s report recommends that its sharpshooters concentrate their efforts in the “Huron Nature Area” in 2018. “There should be few deer remaining in the Arboretum and adjoining neighborhoods, but a more cohesive effort should be made in the Huron Nature Area next year. Without the 450’ restriction we will be able shift the shooting locations into areas where we can control where the deer approach from making removal efforts significantly more effective.”

It perhaps comes as no surprise that the contractor’s report states that all objectives were met, and that because Ann Arbor’s deer population was underestimated by as much as 50 percent by city staff and the contractor hired in 2016, White Buffalo recommends that its services be contracted in 2018 and beyond: “Given the estimated number of untreated adult female (~40% of 341 [450 total deer – 109 from sterilization areas] = 136 fertile adult females; see Table 4, and DeNicola et al. 2008) and the recruitment rate (1.1 doe:fawn), we expect an additional ~150 fawns to be recruited/added to the population next fall in Wards 1 and 2.”

The contractor recommends that before Council “determine how many deer to allocate to lethal versus nonlethal methods in the future we will need to know the relative satisfaction of residents in the various Wards and how far we need to reduce the respective populations.” How city officials will gather feedback from residents has not been determined.