Grant: Alliance Grants

As human population grow around the world so too do cities, which encroach upon wildlife habitat. Some wildlife species cannot adapt, but others in fact thrive in urban areas - sometimes creating problems for both humans and wildlife. Understanding how wildlife species adapt to urban environments, and how populations fluctuate within them, is key to understanding both the fundamental ecology and the management of urban wildlife. Using a combination of satellite telemetry and remote infra-red cameras, we are examining the habitat use and population dynamics of Columbian black-tailed deer in Esquimalt, Vancouver Island. Deer are native to the region but are believed to have increased markedly over the last century, capitalizing on new resources and predator shelter. Once we have examined a 'natural' urban population, we are using immunocontraception - birth control - to reduce the number of births, and then examining how the populations responds. We will understand the relative contribution of births vs. immigration and emigration in population dynamics, as well as the shifts in habitat and space use by a declining population. This work can be used across Canada to manage urban wildlife populations, reducing the monetary and human cost of conflicts and collisions, while also promoting human-wildlife coexistence. The research will also further our understanding of population dynamics in these novel, but growing, environments.