Reintroduction of cougars is essential for controlling deer population
The scream of the cougar was last heard in Pennsylvania during a time when apex predators naturally regulated prey populations. Unfortunately, these and other predators, like the wolf, were eradicated a century ago, leaving a void that hunters tried to fill. However, times change, and eventually, hunters were the ones in decline. As a result, deer populations have surged uncontrollably since the 1980s.
While a bane to farmers, the impact of deer overpopulation extends far beyond crop damage. Their current top predator is the automobile. The carcasses littering our roads are reminders of human lives needlessly lost and why car insurance premiums are so high.
Deer are so overpopulated in some areas that they strip the vegetation bare, creating a “browse line”-a stark indicator of ecological imbalance. Having eaten everything within reach, in winter, they have little choice but to starve to death. Such heavy browsing prevents forest regrowth and destroys cover and nesting habitat for a variety of wildlife.
Crowded conditions also facilitate the spread of diseases like chronic wasting disease (CWD) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) among deer. Deer are also reservoirs for numerous diseases and parasites that infect humans, pets, and livestock. Lyme disease, tuberculosis, leptospirosis, barberpole worm… the list goes on.
Reintroducing top predators isn’t without its share of drama and strife, but the benefits far outweigh the problems and would ripple through the ecosystem, a phenomenon ecologists call “trophic cascade.” Raccoons, coyotes, and other nuisance species that proliferated in the absence of predators would also be kept in check, further reducing the impacts on our wallets, environment, and public health.
Surprisingly, hunters would also benefit from allowing overbrowsed habitats to recover. While deer in overbrowsed areas produce a single fawn each year and suffer from mineral deficiencies, deer with abundant food resources produce twins or triplets, have heavier body weights, and grow bigger racks.
Though they generally avoid people, cougars have indeed killed 27 people in the U.S. over the last 200 years. That shouldn’t be taken lightly, but compare it to the roughly 200 fatalities resulting from vehicle collisions with deer every year, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The numbers are even more lopsided for livestock kills versus livestock mortality from disease as well.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has successfully reintroduced black bears, elk, fishers, river otters, and wild turkeys, resulting in new opportunities for hunting, recreation, and tourism, as well as other economic and ecological benefits. Cougars would be no different. Allegheny National Forest or the many state forests in the north-central part of the state would be perfect locations.
The hunter shortage is an intergenerational problem. Looking through a scope became looking at a screen, and it’s not going back. Extended hunting seasons and new special programs are not sufficient to do what hunters, including paid sharpshooters from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ‘s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, have been unable to do for nearly 50 years.
It’s time to recognize the value of cougar reintroduction for the well-being of Pennsylvania’s ecosystems and communities.
Mark Lazaran Jr. is a wildlife biologist from Uniontown.