Bambi's Revenge

Abstract

Conflicts between humans and wild animals are emerging from the recovery of once endangered animals populations, and the intrusion of humans into formerly natural areas. As a response to these threats, animnal control programs are generally designed with the objective of establishing and maintaining a stable population. This paper challenges this view by studying the management of urban deer in a suburb of Rochester, NY. Benefits and danmages imposed by animal populations, as well as the costs of control measures are incorporated. Pulsing controls can be far more efficient than steady state regimes under a wide range of conditions but potential gains can be dissipated by management constraints. The effect of citizen opposition to the killing of animals is investigated.