A symbol of nature in the city or a dangerous nuisance in an urban world? In the American capital, deer are increasingly debated, while their presence worries, between the risk of road accidents and the spread of disease.
Victims of deforestation and hunting, deer were on the verge of extinction at the end of the 19th century, but that is now ancient history: the country now has more than 30 million of them, mainly on East cost.
And in Washington, they sink into the city, taking advantage in particular of Rock Creek Park, a green setting in the heart of the federal capital, the city’s veritable green lung.
A space nevertheless in poor health and today threatened by the proliferation of deer, worries the National Park Service (NPS) which manages the site.
“If this forest was healthy, we wouldn’t be able to see this far,” NPS manager Megan Nortrup told AFP, pointing to the open spaces that line the park’s hiking trails.
In the absence of natural predators, white-tailed deer, the local species, have devoured plants that are essential for maintaining biodiversity, as well as young trees, reducing the natural renewal of the forest.
With potentially important consequences: if nothing is done, the forest could simply disappear within a hundred years.
In order to better understand their impact, the park authorities have set up experimental enclosures aimed at protecting areas and letting the plants develop freely.
“You will not see any young trees of this size around, it means that we have lost a generation”, points out Ana Chuquin, botanist of the park, pointing to the plant, which only survived thanks to the enclosure.
Deer are accustomed to the plants of the region and prefer to eat them, rather than non-local invasive species such as the vione, a flowering shrub particularly popular in gardens and whose seeds are dispersed by the wind, birds or rain until in the park.
However, local insect species can only live thanks to the plants they have always known and their disappearance could cause cascading effects that could jeopardize the entire wild ecosystem.
To counter the threat, the NPS decided in 2013 to take annual samples from the deer population.
Every winter, at night, when the park is completely closed, biologists equipped with thermal scanners and night vision goggles and trained in the use of weapons hunt to reduce the herds.
A program expanded in 2020 to other parks managed by the NPS around Washington, when the density of animals was close to 40 animals per km², four times the limit for a sustainable presence, according to scientists.
During the public inquiry period launched before the start of the program, residents asked if it would not be more appropriate to reintroduce “wolves, coyotes and lynx”, rather than to kill deer.
The NPS responded by pointing out that wolves hunted over 75 km² while Rock Creek Park was just over 7 km².
In addition, it is “unthinkable to reintroduce these predators given the possible adverse effects for the surrounding urban or rural populations, in particular for the safety of children and pets”, added the service.
Deer population management is beginning to bear fruit, insists Ms. Chuquin, but it will take time for the forest to grow stronger.
-Deer Hunt in Town-
Like Taylor Chamberlin, a resident of Great Falls in Virginia, about thirty minutes from Washington, residents have also decided to act.
Billing himself as an “urban deer hunter”, Mr Chamberlin started his career as a real estate agent, before realizing he had another passion.
Equipped with a bow or a crossbow, he spends his days going door to door, offering his services to local residents whose deer devour the hedges and landscape arrangements.
“You have no choice, you have to be precise”, in such an urban environment, insists Taylor Chamberlin, the idea being to prevent an injured animal from coming to bleed out in the swimming pool of a neighbor.
The deer are so numerous in the area that there are no hunting restrictions and Mr. Chamberlin offers the game to an association which distributes it to food banks.
He also trains young urbanites, worried about the impact of intensive agriculture on their health, in hunting but often reminds them: taking a life is never easy, even if it allows you to be in contact with the natural world. and actually enjoy the meal on the table.
04/09/2023 08:59:30 – Washington (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
