The Controversial Issue Of Wildlife Overpopulation

In the united states especially healthy food is considered to be more baroque and therefore seemingly out of reach of the majority of the population. Foods that are mass produced and heavily processed for a longer shelf life are more commonly accessible for the majority of people, thus creating health issues. Even if the meat and vegetables were home grown it would take a lot of work and can be costly thus the downside to home grown meals. Modernly, most americans have such a disorganized schedule that they would never be able to make time for raising the animal or growing the vegetable anyway. A great way to provide food for the family that, yet many people believe to be inhumane, is very efficient for a healthy meal and is very good for the health of the wildlife population is hunting and fishing. Deer meat is very lean, especially when compared to beef, and it is naturally grown by itself so therefore there are no added steroids or supplements for growth, all the deer have is survival of the fittest. “In fact, as you can see by the graph below, grass-fed beef can have the same amount of fat as skinless chicken breast, wild deer, or elk. Research shows that lean beef actually lowers your "bad" LDL cholesterol levels.” (J. Animal Sci )

Predators/prey relationships play a big role in animal populations. If the balance between predators and prey is changed, populations are changed. The white- tailed deer populations in some areas has grown too large because there are no natural predators.

Transition: Now that we know what a problem animal overpopulation is, let’s talk about how we can help to solve this issue.

A famous example of overgrazing is the Kaibab plateau in northern Arizona in the early 1900’s. In summary, cattle was introduced to the plateau and thus created the problem of overgrazing the land. Then in 1906 Theodore Roosevelt declared the area the Grand Canyon National Game Preserve. The regulators of the area officially banned hunting of deer in 1907, in addition, the extermination of predators of deer was put into effect. By 1920 the deer population had risen out of control from these laws and hunting was reopened. This overpopulation of deer caused overgrazing to happen once again and 60,000 deer starved within the next two winters. The image above shows the population of deer from 1905

“In the early twentieth century, there were approximately 500,000 white-tailed deer inhabiting the United States.”(Swihart) “Since then, several studies have been conducted proving that there are problems with deer overpopulation. Research has displayed that there are three prominent units that the causes come from; human overpopulation, elimination of their natural predators , along with lack of hunting to control the population.”(Lane) Human overpopulation has affected the deer population due to the fact that as the human population has increased the need for homes, food and water supply, as well as other extra things such as malls, highways and much more. The need for those has resulted in humans cutting down trees and destroying the habitats of the deer which has lead to the population moving to other areas and causing disease because the population is to high none area. The eradication of their natural predators is the result of removing the deers natural predators; this would result in the deer overpopulating. The lack of hunting to control the population would lead to an increase in the population in urban

It is impossible to discuss deer at all without talking about deer management, because there is there hardly a deer alive in America today that is not directly influenced by man. We control the water the deer drinks, the food that it eats, and the land that it lives on, and we regulate the manner, sex, and amount of deer harvested. The problem lies in the way we manage the deer herd. The time has come to practice Quality Deer Management.

There are many rules that are ordered by the Game and Fish Commissions. For example, the amount of tags a hunter is given to kill a certain type of animal. This means that by law they are only allowed to kill no more than that number. In Arkansas, hunters only get two buck deer tags. (AGFC) The amount of tags helps the Game and Fish keep the populations alive and not going extinct. Although PETA thinks hunters are just killers, they repopulate species just as much. There are many hunters that capture animals to breed. Once they breed, Wildlife Officers relocate them to a safe area where that animal is stable to live. A statistic shows that in 1900, 100,000 wild turkeys remained, as of right now there are over 7 million. (Hunters against PETA) However, the growing population can become a threat in many instances. Female Deer (does) are over populated in Arkansas. I think any driver should know that by the amount of dead deer on the highway that has been hit. Situations such as this one can hurt or cause damage to people. Since I am quite familiar with black bears, I know how dangerous an animal can be. Every year, people die from animal attacks. If these animals were not killed, there is no telling how many more deaths we would

Today I am going to talk about the white tailed deer and coyote population across South Carolina. As you can imagine the white-tailed deer population has decreased and the coyote population has increased. I think that one day the white-tailed deer will be an almost extinct species and the coyote will end up being a species that is overpowering the United States of America. This is important because if the coyote do come overpowering, then mankind population will start decreasing and only people in bomb shelters will survive but only for a few years.

Farmers, ranchers, and government agents have been contributors to this decline by poisoning wolves and over trapping (National Wildlife Federation, 1996-2015). From January 1, 2015- March 31, 2015 there have been a total of 13 wolf deaths in the state of Minnesota. A total of 3 were unknown, 3 incidental, 1 was hit by a vehicle, 1 natural death, 2 under investigation, and 3 were illegal that included 1 illegal shooting and 2 illegal snares. (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 2015) Humans have not only been the factor of decline in wolf population, but the decline in prey (bison, elk, white-tailed deer, moose, caribou, and beaver) has decreased wolf numbers as well. Being the white-tailed deer population has increased the wolf population is back on the rise. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, 2015, April 23) These factors are essential when it comes to determining the problem behind a decline in a specie population. We not only need to look at one factor, but a wide range of issues that can contribute to this

When herbivorous species such as white-tailed deer and elks are the main predators in a habitat, they create an imbalance in the habitat, and force other species in the habitat to go extinct. Natural predation also has a stronger impact in stabilizing or reducing the population of white-tailed deer than human hunting alone. One of the main reasons for the overpopulation of the deer was the extinction of their predators. Every animal in the food web is highly important in keeping the balance in the ecosystem. Yellowstone National Park was a great example of how every species support the

When people talk about deer, they are commonly talking about the North American Whitetail. That is because they are so prevalent in this country. They can be found in every state in the US. The only place where you will not find any whitetails is in parts of Arizona and California. In most states the whitetail is very prevalent, especially in the northeast. They are one of the most hunted animals in this area, particularly in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Despite the amount they are hunted, both in and out of season, you can not drive more than a few miles out of the towns without seeing one that was hit by a car. The deer population in this area just keeps growing. It is unclear what

Whitetail deer have come to be known as a keystone species, species known for affecting other organisms in an ecosystem. Deer are known as a keystone species in forest habitats such as in the Eastern United States because they are capable of destroying potential forest habitat of other organisms (McShea and Rappole, 1992). For example, deer have a negative impact on forest ecosystems by trampling and over browsing over vegetation, without creating any habitat for other native species. Throughout the eastern United States, the abundance of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) has increased dramatically over the last century (Taggart and Long, 2015). Population increases could be due to increased habitat fragmentation from land development, reduced predators and/or hunting pressure. Individual deer ranges varied during seasonal times, deer movements are usually greatest during the peak breeding months from late fall through winter (Williams et. al, 2012). Regardless of the cause, high deer densities can have significant effects on plant communities such as plant decay and/or even death. Deer consume a large amounts of plant biomass (leaves, buds, flowers and fruits) and directly reduce the growth, reproduction, and survival of herbaceous and woody plant species (Shen et. al, 2016). The impacts of white-tailed deer on forests along the Eastern United

A report from Recovering America’s Wildlife Crisis states, “More than 150 species have already gone extinct and about 40% of freshwater fish species are imperiled.” Animals are being killed off by the minute. Now the wildlife species are going to abolished from Earth.

Bam!! All of a sudden you see a flash of brown cross in front of you, on your way home from seeing your parents, you try to stop to miss it but you end up hitting it and spinning out into the ditch causing you a lot of money in damage that has happened to your car. That happens to many people in a year According to State Farm, there were 1.23 million car accidents involving deer between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012. Many people think deer hunting should be illegal, but they don’t think about all the cat wrecks that happen due to them, how much crops they eat from farm land, also how much landscape they destroy from bucks making rubs and scrapes, they destroy a lot of fences, and how people use them often for food during the winter, all people

Countless lives locked away in cages and forgotten about have overwhelmed our society, it has left blood stains on our history as a species and if history has taught us anything, it’s that we have a choice to change our ways of adjusting to situations. A war which was fought in pursuit of ending such criminal means, yet we as human beings do little to nothing to end the horrific crimes of animal deaths in shelters. It is no secret that this world has become infused with problems that have extended from one side of the globe to the other. Amongst these problems lies a terrible truth: nearly every year, sums of almost eight million cats and dogs have been placed in shelters around the world. Out of these vast numbers, half will be