Binghamton University is set to make an announcement today about plans to “manage” the campus deer population.
The Committee for the University Environment (CUE), a group made up of faculty, staff and students, and administration sources said in November that the most likely option would be culling, or selectively killing, of deer to reduce the population levels of the animal on campus by about 90 percent. The culling would be carried out by hired sharpshooters stationed in treetops in BU’s wooded areas.
90 percent of the local deer population may be killed off, according to Julian Shepard, an associate professor of biological sciences.
The stewards of BU’s natural areas have warned that an overabundant population of deer on campus are killing off vegetation, and that if something is not done to control the deer population, irreparable harm will be done to the Nature Preserve.
The University’s plans for how to “manage” the deer population has generated a surprising amount of interest, not only on campus but also in the local community and even across the state. But deer culling is not entirely out of the ordinary. It is a widespread issue encountered by areas that have large deer populations, and it is carried out all the time — BU will likely hire a company that offers professional animal culling services.
Animal population control in the Nature Preserve is not unprecedented either — the University relocated a large part of the Nature Preserve’s beaver population 25 years ago for fear of property damage caused by floods if one of the beaver’s dams failed, according to an op-ed authored by a former professor that was published in the Press & Sun-Bulletin.
Interestingly enough, however, the former professor, Charles A. Carpenter, wrote that population-control operation failed, but no harm was caused by the apparent beaver problem.
There are a couple schools of thought regarding the deer culling issue. There are those who take it on faith that the deer overpopulation is a serious problem and have no qualms killing off the deer. At the opposite end of the spectrum stand those who are firmly against killing deer for any reason or by any means.
But the issue isn’t so neatly dichotomous. There are several factors to consider before taking a stance on the topic of deer culling. We Pipe Dream editors fall at many different points along this spectrum about what ought to be done, but we would all support the culling if there was enough evidence that the operation is necessary — i.e. that there is a real need to control the population — and that culling is really the only feasible way to control the population and protect the Nature Preserve’s existence in the long run.
We believe that there is a deer problem on campus. CUE would not have brought up this issue without cause, but it still might calm the hearts and minds of disheartened students and community if it released more relevant data, like tangible evidence to prove that deer overpopulation is causing a serious problem to the human population or the environment, and that this is the best way to solve the problem.