The Key deer--at the crossroads of conservation
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The Key deer personifies the struggles of all measures of conservation, both past and present—the balance between development and nature, economy and ecology. In some sense it is a conservation story to be heralded for the enormous strives that have been made, but at the same time it clearly shows us how far we still have to go as new issues emerge and old ones remain unsettled. Meanwhile the impacts of sea level rise intensify the existing shortage of time, space, and resources that remain.
The Key deer is pictured here among the thatch palms that characterize the tropical flora of the lower Keys and the rockland forest ecosytems. The plant and animal communities here are like nowhere else on earth. They are a unique mixture of the sub-tropical flora and fauna found throughout the southeastern United States and those found in the Caribbean--but not completely like one or the other. Thankfully, the value of this unmistakably fascinating biological community was not overlooked as the early National Wildlife Refuges were set aside.
The Key deer made the very first cut of the endangered species list and property was aggressively purchased to protect its iconic species. As a result these purchases protected a whole host of other endemic and wonderfully unique species of which can be seen nowhere else on earth.
The original emphasis for the immediacy to protect the Key deer was because the population was believed to be less than fifty, and was teetering on extinction. The herd's numbers crashed drastically due to the over-hunting, which can be a real problem given the finite nature of island populations. Hunters used fire to chase deer out to the beaches where they were easy pickings. Although the early keys citizens cannot be completely demonized, survival was tough and resources were scarce—farming out of bare rock is not exactly a lucrative business.
Drastic actions were taken, and a ranger by the name of Jack Watson was sent to be the only line of defense for the vanishing species of the Keys. Protecting as much as half a million acres, Watson turned the tide and virtually stopped poaching of the newly protected Key deer single-handedly. Watson made many enemies in the local community during his time due to his bold actions to protect the Refuges, but in the end he was and still is celebrated as a hero.
Many stories of his exploits still travel through local oral tradition. His memory leaves a clear example of what one man can do. In addition, his life helps to remind us that sticking to your guns while following a strict and informed ethic can achieve undreamt measures of conservation successes against all odds.
Poaching was reduced drastically as a result. Through the 80's and 90's great strides were made in the recovery of the Key deer. Now a new host of problems confront the deer. Over the years, the Keys became an immensely popular vacation spot and sleepy fishing towns awoke to a new era in the Keys. Waterfront mansions reshaped the shoreline and endless streams of weekend traffic began to pour down US1.
Although the Fish and Wildlife Service pushed to ebb the tide the resultant habitat loss and modification has changed the landscape of the Lower Keys and vital Key Deer habitat drastically.
Development brought new challenges to the protection of the Key Deer such as road mortality, illegal feeding and overpopulation.
Road mortalities were at all time high last year totaling 120. On one hand it is a sign of a growing population, on the other it is a tragedy that they must go in this fashion. In their modern landscape, new foraging opportunities began to shape the behavior and ultimately change the ecology of the deer. Larger family units with smaller ranges began to concentrate around neighborhoods. Exotic plants and fertilized yards provided an unnatural food sources. The Key Deer also learned that garbage cans can offer quick and easy meals. During necropsies conducted by the Refuge any number of strange trash items have been be found inside their digestive systems--wires, coins, toys, you name it. The deer pictured here are dining on french fries and molding pizza.
Although access to easy meals and artificial food sources has increased the population, these factors have also caused new problems such as the spread of disease. The spread of disease becomes a bigger risk to dense populations. The fawn pictured here has stomach worms (haemonchus contortus), which are able to be transmitted more easily when deer live in tight quarters and share food sources. Notice in the picture to the right that the fawn has no overcoat, this is from malnutrition caused from battling the stomach worms. To date, stomach worms are mostly a problem which is confined to those neighborhoods where deer are most densely populated and is rarely seen elsewhere.
Other infectious diseases such as Johne’s disease plague the Key deer due to over-crowding. Fortunately, the disease has been limited to only the southern part of Big Pine Key. Currently research is underway to determine the true extent of the problem and identify steps that can be taken to mitigate the problem.
Other future threats are unknown, but it seems as though climate change and sea level rise will at some point be the final straw for the Key deer.
The Keys have been losing high ground since the end of the last glacial retreat some 15,000 or so years ago. The pineland pictured here was damaged during hurricane Wilma and is an example how large areas of remaining habitat can be altered drastically overnight.
Because of its island biogeography the Key deer lives on the front lines and many tough choices will have to be made here in the Keys long before they thought about elsewhere. Hopefully the successes and failures of its management will help to guide others as the tide begins to reclaim the land further and further up the coast. The future of conservation in the face of population growth and climate change is being decided by our actions today as the Key deer, along many other species, hang in the balance.
For now the population remains large and much of the remaining habitat will be protected well into the foreseeable future thanks to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Monroe County, and The Nature Conservancy