How is the deer population counted?
Animal populations are undergoing constant changes. A century ago, the United States hosted about 500,000 deer; today, that number has jumped to at least 25 million [source: AP]. The increase is dramatic — but why does it matter? Deer are a significant part of many forest ecosystems, mostly because they eat huge amounts of foliage and can practically strip an area bare if their numbers grow too large. That’s one of the big reasons why forest and wildlife management organizations keep track of deer populations: If there are too many deer, they need to sell more hunting licenses to thin the herd so food sources don’t dwindle. If there are too few deer (which isn’t currently a problem), hunting licenses may be cut back so the population can replenish itself. But how exactly is that count done? Wild animals don’t exactly line up to be counted. Traditionally — at lea
Animal populations are undergoing constant changes. A century ago, the United States hosted about 500,000 deer; today, that number has jumped to at least 25 million [source: AP]. The increase is dramatic — but why does it matter? Deer are a significant part of many forest ecosystems, mostly because they eat huge amounts of foliage and can practically strip an area bare if their numbers grow too large. That’s one of the big reasons why forest and wildlife management organizations keep track of deer populations: If there are too many deer, they need to sell more hunting licenses to thin the herd so food sources don’t dwindle. If there are too few deer (which isn’t currently a problem), hunting licenses may be cut back so the population can replenish itself. But how exactly is that count done? Wild animals don’t exactly line up to be counted. Traditionally — at l
