Humane Treatment of Urban Wildlife makes presentation

The Humane Treatment of Urban Wildlife group made a presentation to a Council subcommittee last week.

Rather than focusing on the cull, which is now complete, the presentation instead offered suggestions to assist in Kimberley's efforts to manage the urban deer and human conflict situation in a fair, humane and sustainable way.

The Vice Chair of HTUW Sherry Adams now sits on the Kimberley Urban Deer Committee, though designated as a community resident rather than a representative of the group.

Also on the Committee are Gary Glinz, a former BC Parks Manager, who is Chair, Irene Teske, a provincial wildlife biologist and community members Bill Roberts, Larry Foster, Mick Henningson and Adams.

The City is also reaching out to a local SPCA member to sit on the committee and assist with community outreach.

The SPCA does not support the cull but does support non-lethal strategies to address urban deer issues, especially education about how to co-exist with urban deer. The SPCA is also opposed to feeding deer, which is a message the City will be putting focus on.

"The SPCA does not support the cull," said Coun. Darryl Oakley, the City's representative on the deer committee. "They have a position statement. But what we're doing is a multi-pronged management approach. The BCSPCA could help us with some of the pieces."

HTUW's presentation made a number of suggestions to Council including:

• a research project to study deer populations, to really outline which are truly urbanized deer, which are transient deer and which are the barrier deer populations

• a birth control study on Kimberley's urban deer population.

• a study of the effect of urban development and Teck property fence on urban and barrier deer populations.

• a tracking process for urban wildlife and human conflict complaints including all information such as location, time of year, species involvement, canine involvement, witnesses etc.

The HTUW committee also encourages increased bylaw enforcement around feeding deer. The City is already moving in this direction and announced that more tickets will be issued.

HTUW would like to see deer herd hazing begin, as well as a public education program.

They also suggest wildlife proof garbage bins instead of door to door pick up, planting city planters with deer resistant plants rather than petunias; change bylaws to allow greater fence heights, and planting deer friendly vegetation in fire protection cut areas on the borders of town to encourage deer to move back into those areas for food.

The final numbers for Kimberley's cull were 101 mule deer culled, with five white tails trapped and released.

The traps now move on to Invermere, where HTUW plans to make a presentation to that Council this week.