By GRACE HURLEY
Updated Thursday with additional information from the University
Ithaca residents are criticizing Cornell’s Department of Natural Resources staff for allegedly using inhumane methods to control the local deer population. “Cayuga Deer” — a group of concerned Ithaca residents that is taking action against unethical wildlife control practices — recently learned of what they called “upsetting” actions being taken by the Natural Resources department from a letter that had been sent from the University’s Office of Community Relations to multiple Ithaca public officials, according to the Cayuga Deer website. However, the University said in a press release Tuesday that it has “long maintained” a deer research and management program to address “chronic deer overpopulation on its lands.”
The program — which is supervised by faculty researchers and safety experts — is important to protect agriculture research, the health and safety of the Cornell community and the Ithaca area from “damage from the overpopulated deer herd resident in our lands,” according to a University press release. “At a smaller set of campus locations where deer traffic is high, researchers use collapsible Clover traps’ to humanely capture and then euthanize deer,” the press release said. “Traps have been used to capture deer at Cornell since 1997.”
It added that the deer management program at Cornell is completely safe for humans and has maintained a “spotless” safety record since it was developed.