Today I would like to thank those who made comments on the blog and
on Facebook about the last blog post", "Whitetail Photography at
Shenandoah National Park -Destroyed For Now".
Most
seemed to agree that the collars are unsightly and are likely to cause
the animals a lot of distress, while one reader wants to know if the
condition of the animal was reported to SNP officials.
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| Buck Was Standing Near Visitor Center When Photographed by Billie G. Cromwell |
My Response: I spoke with Billie Cromwell
who took the photographs and he said he felt no need to report this as
the animal was in the lawn right beside the visitor center and was
easily visible to maintenance workers and rangers. As much time as this
buck spends between there and the Big Meadows campground makes it
extremely unlikely that officials are not aware of the situation.
Fellow
wildlife photographer, Dan Gomola raised the question:"Is there a any
way people could band together against animal cruelty of these herds".
My
Response: I have no good answer to this question. All I know to do is
contribute what little I can by trying to draw awareness to the
problem. One should also write letters to officials and attend public
meetings. It would be nice if a large organization with a lot of
political clout would take this up but it never seems to happen. As it
is, it seems that the National Park Service has its' way regardless of
public input.
Bill, who is an avid hunter and photographer, said, "Those appear to be the most intrusive tacking devices I've ever seen.
Monitoring animals for study is fine I suppose but do it in a way that
isn't a burden on the animal. With the technology available today those
are a little more than over-the-top and ridiculous."
My Response: I agree completely.
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| Over-The-Top and Ridiculous Collar |
Alyssa Johnson who is involved with big game
management (as a student in New York State) wrote, " I feel like there
must be more to this story than we, and possibly you
know. I feel for the animal, of course, because I'm human. But, perhaps
there would be more damage done than good to try and remedy this defunct
collar. Unfortunately, many people seem to suggest "with today's
technology... _________" fill in the blank. Why can't there be a smaller
collar, something less obtrusive, microchip, nothing at all, etc. I
would like to believe, as someone who is involved with the big game
management in my state, that the managers in charge WOULD utilize
something less obtrusive, if it was available. I just attended the 2013
TWS National Conference, and was able to handle and examine all kinds of
remote-monitoring equipment at the trade show. You lose battery life,
distance of signal transmission, type of transmission, and amount of
stored data when you make the device smaller. The severity and scope of
CWD, for example, is so large and potentially dangerous to our deer
herds, that these measures of using hardcore collars, with big packs on
them, is so necessary. Without this monitoring, "we" wouldn't be able to
manage the deer herds for hunters, photographers, and other wildlife
enthusiasts. I'm glad I got to see this pictures, thanks for sharing."
My
Response: I will approach the issue by first discussing the
Pennsylvania elk herd which I am quite familiar with. I do not like to
see collars on these animals either. It seems possible that some elk
have had problems because of wearing collars, but I have never
personally seen an elk's neck severely damaged by a collar. At one time
many of the elk were fitted with brown collars with large yellow side
plates attached on which the number of the animal was displayed. This
is shown in the photo of bull 2D below.
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| Bull 2D-Old Style Collar |
This type of collar really became a problem once
Pennsylvania elk became hunted animals again in 2001, as the bright
yellow collar made the animal stand out to hunters. As a result the PGC
discontinued their use, but they did not remove the collars from elk
already fitted with them. From a certain point going forward elk were
fitted with brown radio collars. These collars are not numbered like the
yellow ones. The PGC gave up the ability to easily identify individual
animals by visual means and must now rely on radio tracking-GPS equipment
to do so. I do not like to see these collars on elk any more than I like to see
them on deer, but at least they are not causing problems for the animal
in most cases.
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| Brown Collar Currently Used by PGC |
In comparing the use of collars on elk and deer one
must realize that a deer is a much smaller animal and as such has less
space to fit a collar. This may be part of the problem but it is not
all of it. If one looks at the old elk collars closely the numbered
panels were not larger than the collar band, but the number panels on
the deer collars extend well beyond the collar band.
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| Numbered Tag Is Larger Than Collar |
In addition they appear to be made of a hard
material. It seems likely that this is at least partially responsible
for the damage. Also the brown part of the collar is broken in the
photo above, which would contribute to the chafing on this particular
animal. I suspect that these collars were designed so that animals
could be visually identified from a distance without relying entirely
on radio transmitters, but if this is the case, does the supposed
benefit of this outweigh the damage done to the animal? Speaking off the record, a wildlife
professional employed by a state conservation agency, said that it could be as simple as the NPS already having that
type of collar on hands and using them without giving the matter further
thought.
At this point I would like to take a closer look at two portions of Ms. Johnson's comments and respond to them.
Ms Johnson, " I
would like to believe, as someone who is involved with the big game
management in my state, that the managers in charge WOULD utilize
something less ,if it was available."
My response: " I
would like to think that too, but unfortunately after working most of my
adult life for a state conservation agency, I wouldn't put too much
stock in this. What is proposed and implemented can be mind boggling at
times, in spite of the competence and good intentions of most agency
personnel.
Ms Johnson, "The severity and scope of
CWD, for example, is so large and potentially dangerous to our deer
herds, that these measures of using hardcore collars, with big packs on
them, is so necessary. Without this monitoring, "we" wouldn't be able to
manage the deer herds for hunters, photographers, and other wildlife
enthusiasts."
My response: I am aware of the
statistics on the severity and scope of CWD, but it is not in the least
bit clear to me how that measures such as this or drastic herd reduction
are going to save the day. I may live to see the day that I regret
this statement, but at this point I think that conservation agency and
NPS reaction to the disease has the potential to have a far worse impact
on the herd than the disease itself.
In closing, I
will mention that I still list a blog or two in my side bar that are no
longer updated on a regular basis. One of these is Larry Thorngren's .
"The Wild Photographer". His last post about radio collars was
"Abused Radio-Collared Bison-Yellowstone National Park"
on Nov. 6, 2011. If you are interested in reading more about this type
of thing, it may be worth your while to browse through his older posts.
Also check the comments section of this post to read more input from Larry W. Brown and follow the links to see photos of deer in winter that show severe hair loss from the collars.
Originally published at
Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.
