deer

In 1868, Hong Kong gifted Hawaii 8 axis deer in goodwill; their descendants now number about 60,000 and damage crops, native plants, and forests

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Eight axis deer arrived in 1868; their descendants now number about 60,000. (Wikimedia Commons)

Eight axis deer, a goodwill gift from Hong Kong, were released on Molokaʻi in 1868. Today their descendants number in the tens of thousands, and they eat crops and native plants and damage forests. According to the U.S. Geological Survey fact sheet, Hawaii’s native plants evolved without grazing animals, which can make them vulnerable to … Read more

Scientists played human shouts, wolf and cougar calls near British Columbia crop fields; deer fled 64% of the time from human voices, but quickly learned to ignore the deterrents

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Scientists played human shouts, wolf and cougar calls near British Columbia crop fields; deer fled 64% of the time from human voices, but quickly learned to ignore the deterrents

What scares a deer away from a crop field, a wolf howl, a cougar call or the sound of a human shouting? A 2025 study by researchers from the University of Alberta and King’s University found that, among the sounds tested, human shouts produced the strongest flight response in both deer and elk. But the … Read more

In 1973, Montana released a gall fly to control spotted knapweed; decades later, the biocontrol program was linked to over 3 times more hantavirus-positive deer mice

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In 1973, Montana released a gall fly to control spotted knapweed; decades later, the biocontrol program was linked to over 3 times more hantavirus-positive deer mice

A biological control project started half a century ago to destroy a stubborn invasive weed accidentally set off an ecological chain reaction that increased human exposure to a deadly virus. In 1973, wildlife officials and agricultural scientists in Montana released two species of European gall flies, Urophora affinis and Urophora quadrifasciata, to control the spread … Read more