Some Pittsburgh residents say it's time to get deer population under control
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Take a walk through Schenley, Frick, Highland or Riverview parks and you'll see deer eating through the urban forest.
Experts say in the coming years, they'll reduce the parks to weeds if left unchecked.
"The older trees die and there is going to be nothing left, no native tree and shrubs. All you're going to have is invasive species that the deer don't want to eat," said Gary Fujak, a deer management consultant.
No one knows how many deer there are, but a 2010 study found the parks could only support seven or eight deer per square mile. The same study found at the same time, there were more than 40 deer per square acre of park, and estimates are that number has now doubled or tripled.
Mark Masterson of the Friends of Riverview Park says the devastation is plain. They've eaten through the entire 259 acres, resulting in erosion and landslides. They're now ranging through the North Side looking for food, eating through gardens and posing a danger in traffic.
"We're at a critical juncture and something needs to be done about the deer," he said.
Mardi Isler, president of the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition, says having eaten through Schenley and Frick parks, the deer are feasting on gardens throughout the neighborhood. At its last meeting, the coalition passed a resolution calling for the creation of a deer management plan.
"We can't go on without any kind of remedy because it's a danger to us, it's a danger to our pets, it's a menace to our neighborhoods," she said.
As a first step, the organizations are researching just what a deer management plan would look like, researching the options, and talking with municipalities like Mt. Lebanon and Ross, which are already culling their deer populations.
"We're advocating for doing something about the deer," Masterson said. "I don't know what that solution is because I don't know enough about how deer management programs are run, but we're trying to educate ourselves and educate others."
Eventually, the groups will go to the city with proposals, but Fujak says given the sheer number of deer, sterilizing or relocating them won't work. He says the city needs to begin culling the deer over the certain opposition of deer lovers and animal rights advocates.
"There are those people who don't want to see a deer killed any time for any reason. However, there are plenty of people who know it's a problem. But they need to speak up and tell city officials that," he said.
