The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is working with N.C. State and other partners to research wild deer ecology across urban and rural portions of Durham and Orange counties. The Triangle Urban Deer Study is exploring deer ecology factors, including deer mortality, deer abundance and human perceptions of deer.
As urbanization continues, NCWRC increasingly faces challenges managing white-tailed deer populations in urban and suburban areas where human and deer populations intersect. The Triangle Urban Deer Study is designed to advance the agency’s understanding of deer ecology in North Carolina and improve future deer management decisions across an urban to rural gradient.
“With urbanization continuing to increase, it is necessary to understand how different levels of urbanization affect deer, how people perceive deer, and factors impacting deer populations and population management strategies,” said NCWRC Deer Biologist April Boggs Pope.
Field work for the study began in January 2022 and will finish up early in 2025. To gather necessary data, deer were captured, fit with a GPS collar and a yellow ear tag, and immediately released, WRC said
Overall, the study team captured and collared 236 deer that were at least 6 months old and 112 recently born fawns. The GPS collar transmits data to the researchers, providing detailed location data on movement, habitat use and survival. Other components of the study include population estimates using genetics to identify individual deer from collected fecal samples and surveys of residents in the area.
Population estimates indicate that average deer densities in Durham County are around 80 deer per square mile, and that densities are lower in areas with higher levels of impervious surfaces.
Collared and tagged deer can be legally harvested during hunting seasons. In fact, an important component of this study is that hunting proceeds as normal so that hunting mortality data is not skewed. If you harvest a collared or ear-tagged deer, call the number on the ear tag or collar to report it.