‘Fix’ for SI’s deer problem is costly
$3.3M+ sterility scheme
These are big bucks. Mayor de Blasio’s $3.3 million plan to cut down Staten Island’s deer herd by giving the animals vasectomies is already $334,770 over budget because there are more horny white-tailed males than expected.
The city snipped 1,154 bucks since the program began in September 2016. and officials aren’t entirely sure how many more need to go under the knife.
“We’re dealing with more deer here than we had anticipated, and field work requires flexibility,” Richard Simon, director of the Parks Department’s Wildlife Unit, said in a statement. “That’s why we increased the study’s budget.”
The agency hired the nonprofit White Buffalo Inc. to sterilize male deer as part of a three-year effort to better manage Staten Island’s growing herd. The deer have overrun populated areas, creating traffic and Lyme-disease dangers.
The first year of the project cost $2.35 million and 720 bucks got vasectomies, the department said. But White Buffalo asked for an extra $334,770 on top of the $634,650 already budgeted for the second year. The third and final year was originally budgeted at $314,000, but the city is assessing if even more is needed.
In 2008, the state estimated just 24 deer called Staten Island home. Now White Buffalo thinks the number is 80 times that — with between 1,917 and 2,189 deer roaming the borough.
Outside wildlife experts have long suspected the vasectomy effort would be another de Blasio boondoggle.
They’ve argued that female deer will still go into heat repeatedly throughout fall and winter even if most Staten Island bucks are sterilized.
And these randy does will still emit a powerful scent to attract males, including potential mates from New Jersey who haven’t been snipped and can swim over.
“Even if a small number of males immigrate on the Island or a small number are missed, it’s easy to see how quickly females can start breeding again,” said Dr. Paul Curtis, a Cornell University deer expert who consulted City Hall on a task force before the vasectomy plan was chosen.
“Definitely it’s a lot of money,” Curtis said of the project’s growing cost. “You can spend millions, in Staten Island’s case up front, but if you don’t have a plan for the future, the deer will quickly reproduce again.”
Parks officials have said the first-in-the-nation vasectomy approach is humane and effective.
“Not only have we completed more than 1,100 vasectomies, we’re tagging and tracking deer, and finalizing a scientifically accurate count of the deer population,” said Anthony DeNicola of White Buffalo. “By any estimate, we’re making excellent progress here.”