First a bit of history for first time readers and a re-fresher for those who have been following the problem. In late August or early September of 2012, we learned about the CWD study at Shenandoah National Park from well known Virginia wildlife photographer, Larry W. Brown. As a result of the study, most of the mature whitetail bucks in the Big Meadows area were fitted with radio collars. This was initially discussed in the October 26, 2012 post, " Shenandoah Whitetails Under Assault" and followed up by Shenandoah Whitetails Under Assault Part II", on October 30, 2012. This post featured photos of several collared bucks, which were taken by retired PGC Maintenance Supervisor Billie G. Cromwell. For those who want more background, I recommend that you read past posts and follow the links to material by Larry W. Brown and others.
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| Mature Buck With Collar Big Meadows Campground: 2012 Photo by Billie G. Cromwell |
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As a result of reading the series of posts, fellow photographer, Dan Gomola
contacted the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) seeking a
remedy to the situation. On December 5, 2013 Dan received a reply to his
inquiry from Laura J. Simon a Wildlife Ecologist with the Humane
Society of the United States
(HSUS) thanking him for alerting the HSUS to the situation and promising
to look into the matter.
Subject: RE: Shenandoah National Park deer
Hi Dan,
Sorry not to get back to you sooner on this situation!
On behalf of HSUS, I lodged a written complaint with the SNP
Superintendant's office about the deer being harmed by problematic
radio-collars. I spoke today to Jim Schaberl, who is the Chief of Natural
and Cultural Resources -- and the person overseeing the radio-telemetry
study.
He said that some of the deer already had their radio collars fixed in
November and early December, but he also asked me to give him a list of all
problematic collars reported so he could check up on them. I gave him H-2,
F-2, V-7, C-7 and Y-7 (please let me know if there are any more). He thought
H-2 was from the Fall of 2012 and assured me it had been addressed
immediately at that time.
Mr. Schaberl also said that they were disappointed in the collars, that this
design had worked well for mule deer in a prior study done with the US
Geologic Survey, and based on that recommendation the NPS had ordered them
for the SNP study. He said the collars had performed well the first year,
but now some were turning out to be problematic --- they expand, but it
seems the area where they expand is not covered well, there's nothing
underneath, and that is what creates the rubbing and soring problems.
Overall, Mr. Schaberl seemed genuinely concerned about the problems caused
by these collars and anxious to fix them.
What would help is if you could post to the PA Photographers website, and
ask people to please send us and the SNP any recent photos ---- and of the
ones that have already been posted, it would be good to know the dates. It
would also be important to find out if these 5 deer are the only ones seen
with ill-fitting collars: H-2, F-2, V-7, C-7 and Y-7.
Thank you again for flagging this
situation -- I will give you another update early next week.
Cheers,
Laura J. Simon
Wildlife Ecologist
Humane Society of the United States
(HSUS)
lsimon@humanesociety.org
I assume that photos are to be e-mailed to the humane society at the above address .
Shenandoah National Park's contact information as listed on their website is shown below, but upon opening the e-mail link I see no option to attach photos.
I assume that photos are to be e-mailed to the humane society at the above address .
Shenandoah National Park's contact information as listed on their website is shown below, but upon opening the e-mail link I see no option to attach photos.
By Mail
Shenandoah National Park 3655 Hwy 211 East Luray, VA 22835 By E-mail Shenandoah National Park |
Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill
