The population of deer in the Midwest is tremendously on the decline, a situation that raises efforts of conservation agencies in addressing the situation. The deer represent a class of wild animals that require maintaining their numbers in order to increase the reproductive ability of future generations. More specifically, the deer population in the United States of America in 2014 was 32.1million where 28.5million represented the numbers of whitetails, and only 3.6 million accounted for the black tails, mules and others (America's Department of Natural Resources: --the U.S. Department of the Interior 15). Notably, the numbers had dropped from 33.5 million in terms of the total deer population, 29.9 million in terms of the whitetails and 3.6million of the black tails, mule deer and others in the year 2013. The decline in the numbers deer in the Midwest is a puzzle to unravel in most circumstances because the department of natural resources seems to be losing the bigger picture of what is causing the decline. Admittedly, the survival of wildlife and the subsequent increase in the population depends on many factors including hunting, genetic, population composition, climatic conditions, habitat characteristics, and feeding, natural disturbances among others. However, the Department of natural resources rarely attributes the declining deer numbers to the hunting and it subsequent effects on the natural habitat of wild animals. However, hunting in any part of the world is a major cause of wild population decline and especially when it is not regulated under the sustainable standards. The DNR is providing many hunting licenses in the Midwest, a situation that leads to excessive hunting and killing of deer animals, and the only effective way to enhance recovery is to reduce the licenses, otherwise any other conservation efforts may be futile.
The deer population decline in the Midwest reveals a worrying trend especially relative to the hunting data. In fact, the population trends with numbers of deer killed by hunting in such a way that as the number of hunters increase, the population of the deer declines. Recent studies reveal that between the year 2000 and 2013, the deer decline was approximately 12% (Pendergast 21). In other words, the data reveals that at least every year there has been a significant decline in the deer population despite the measures taken to conserve the natural environment and efforts to provide vaccinations and treatments to reduce and cure diseases respectively. As usual, the information indicating the total numbers of the deer population in the United States and the extent to which hunting causes decline may not be correct because of many factors such as manipulations by the Department of natural resources to hide the menace. While different explanations may be given and the decline be represented as negligible, it is agreeable that hunting threatens the future of wild animals in the Midwest, and there are many reasons to regulate the licensing activities.
While both hunting and the wild animals are essential in boosting the economy of nations in the Midwest, it is evident that the net contribution may be negative in situations where the regulatory processes are not effective. Hunting licenses are sold, and the DNR collects revenue from increased hunters’ taxes. While the revenue is pertinent to development, the residual effects of hunting especially in the rural areas are far much expensive than the derived benefits (MacRae 33). The efforts to market hunting in communities that seem to purchase few licenses are counterproductive. In essence, there are different groups of hunters with different interests. While some people conducting hunting as a reaction event, others hunt in order to encroach into the natural forests and establish settlements. The damage that encroachers cause to the biological habitat of wildlife is of great economic importance because degradation is an irreversible process.
In the recent past, the DNR has issued more licenses to farmers in most parts of countries in the Midwest. While farming is an economic activity, that plays an essential role in providing food security and accelerating national development, the continuous encroachment of natural habitats of deer is precipitating a crisis. In the wildlife-human conflict that is a reality in most parts of the world, the animals are likely to be losers in the end if proper measures are not taken (Pond 11). Giving farmers licenses to kill wild animals when they destroy their crops is one of the ways in which the DNR seems to address the crop damage menace. However, more licenses to farmers not only allow them to protect their crops by killing the deer animals but also provide them with an opportunity to destroy the habitats of such animals.
The increase in the population of people in the mid-west countries poses a major threat to the survival of the deer species. As the human population increases, the numbers of farmers or people that will require food increases, and this means more agricultural activities are inevitable. Perhaps, most of these farmers will obtain licenses from the DNR and put their weight on hunting for deer. While farmers’ protect their crops and kill any deer that approaches the farmlands, most of them will be hunting with the intentions of reducing the animal populations to open up more land for agriculture. The destruction of the habitat by farmers disrupts the biological balance and leads to poor climatic conditions such as drought that causes shortage of plants upon which the deer feed (Pond 27).
Additionally, the hunting techniques are not uniform among all farmers. In this respect, some farmers kill deer animals indiscriminately, a situation that creates population decline because it compromises the reproductive ability of the animals (Silvius, Bodmer & Fragoso 17). For example, killing of the white tail and black tail deer and leaving, the mule deer compromises the reproductive ability of the deer species because the latter is not fertile. Sometimes, farmers and hunters, in particular, obtain commercially based information that is not consistent with the management and conservation approaches in different states, and acting on this information, excessive hunting occurs. The DNR lacks efficient regulatory procedures that can facilitate increasing the number of hunting licenses, and with the poor hunting techniques, more licenses will cause a further decline in the deer population.
In conclusion, the increase in the number of hunting licenses sold annually is a major cause of the deer population decline in the Midwest. Moreover, the DNR should reduce the number of hunting tags that farmers use to kill deer because of causing crop damage. The decline in deer numbers trends with the increase in the number of hunting licenses. While hunting selling hunting licenses contributes to the economy, it is essential to control hunting and protect the deer, which are pillars of the tourism industry. Therefore, The DNR is providing many hunting licenses in the Midwest, a situation that leads to excessive hunting and killing of deer animals, and the only effective way to enhance recovery is to reduce the licenses, otherwise any other conservation efforts may be futile.
Works Cited
America's Department of Natural Resources: - the U.S. Department of the Interior. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary, 2011. Print.
MacRae, Sloan. Deer Hunting in the Midwest. New York: PowerKids Press, 2011. Print.
Pendergast, George. Hunting Tags:A major Population Decresing Factor of Deer. New York: Gareth Stevens Pub, 2015. Print.
Pond, Samuel W. Deer Life in the Upper Midwest. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Soc. Press, 2012. Print.
Silvius, Kirsten M, Richard E. Bodmer, and José M. V. Fragoso. People in Nature: Wildlife Conservation in South and Central America. New York: Columbia UP, 2010. Print.
