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Key deer

January 01, 1970

The Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) is an endangered subspecies of the white-tailed deer that lives only in the Florida Keys. It is the smallest extant North American deer species.[2]

Key deer
A female on Big Pine Key

Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Subfamily: Capreolinae
Genus: Odocoileus
Species:
O. virginianus
Subspecies:
O. v. clavium
Trinomial name
Odocoileus virginianus clavium
Key Deer range

Description edit

This deer can be recognized by its characteristic size, smaller than all other white-tailed deer. Adult males (known as bucks) usually weigh 25–34 kg (55–75 lb) and stand about 76 cm (30 in) tall at the shoulder. Adult females (does) usually weigh between 20 and 29 kg (44 and 64 lb) and have an average height of 66 cm (26 in) at the shoulders. The deer is a reddish-brown to grey-brown in color. Antlers are grown by males and shed between February and March and regrown by June. When the antlers are growing, they have a white velvet coating. The subspecies otherwise generally resembles other white-tailed deer in appearance.[3]

Behavior edit

Key deer easily swim between islands. Living close to humans, they have little of the natural fear of humans shown by most of their larger mainland relatives (an example of island tameness). The deer are often found in residents' yards and along roadsides where plants and flowers grow. This often results in car-to-deer collisions, as the deer are more active (and harder to avoid) at night. Seeing them at dusk and dawn is not unusual.[4]

Breeding edit

Breeding occurs all year, but peaks in October and December. Territorial activity is limited to defending a receptive doe from other bucks. Longevity records are 9 years for males and 7 years for females. Adult females form loose matriarchal groups with one or two generations of offspring, while bucks feed and bed together only outside the breeding season.[5]

Distribution and habitat edit

The range of the Key deer originally encompassed all of the lower Florida Keys (where standing water pools exist), but is now limited to a stretch of the Florida Keys from about Sugarloaf Key to Bahia Honda Key. Key deer use all islands during the wet season when drinking water is more generally available, retreating to islands with a perennial supply of fresh water in dry months. By August 2019, most individuals were living on only one of the Florida Key islands, Big Pine Key.[6] Key deer inhabit nearly all habitats within their range, including pine rocklands, hardwood hammocks, mangroves, and freshwater wetlands.

Diet edit

The species feeds on over 150 types of plants, but mangroves (red, white, and black), silver palm fruit and thatch palm berries make up the most important parts of their diets.[7] Pine rockland habitat is important, as well, because it is often the only reliable source of fresh drinking water (Key deer can tolerate drinking only mildly brackish water). Habitat destruction due to human encroachment causes many deer to feed on non-native ornamental plants, which may only increase the likelihood of human conflict.[8][9]

History edit

The Key deer is a subspecies of white-tailed deer which migrated to the Florida Keys from the mainland over a land bridge during the Wisconsin glaciation. The earliest known written reference to Key deer comes from the writings of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, a Spanish sailor shipwrecked in the Florida Keys and captured by Native Americans in the 1550s.

 
A male Key Deer on No Name Key in the lower Keys
 
A female Key deer on Big Pine Key
 
A juvenile Key deer is called a fawn.
 
Due to proximity, most Key deer have lost their fear of humans. This, besides habitat loss, is the main reason why they have become endangered.

Endangered status edit

Key deer were hunted as a food supply by native tribes, passing sailors, and early settlers. Hunting them was banned in 1939, but widespread poaching and habitat destruction caused the subspecies to plummet to near-extinction by the 1950s. The National Key Deer Refuge, a federally administered National Wildlife Refuge operated by the Wildlife Service, was established in 1957.

Recent population estimates put the population between 700 and 800, putting it on the list of endangered species. Road kills from drivers on US 1, which traverses the deer's small range, are also a major threat, averaging between 125 and 150 kills per year, 70% of the annual mortality.

The population has been impacted by the fragmentation, destruction and degradation of its habitat, generally due to urbanization. Human feeding of deer has also proven problematic, as the animals become dependent on this food source. Fences have become an obstacle to migration and dispersal.[10]

However, the population has made an encouraging rise since 1955, when population estimates ranged as low as 25, and appears to have stabilized in recent years. Still, recent human encroachment into the fragile habitat and the deer's relatively low rate of reproduction point to an uncertain future for the subspecies. In August 2019 the USFWS recommended that the Key deer be "delisted due to recovery".[6] The species remained listed, but its recovery plan was amended in 2022 to specify the conditions in which delisting or downlisting would be appropriate.[11]

The ongoing rise in sea level, owing to climate change, is a new threat to its remaining habitat on the islands of southern Florida.[12] Beginning in 2023 when assisted migration was newly authorized as a recovery option for endangered species, Key deer was among the animal species mentioned in the press that might have no other option for escaping extinction in its historical range.[13] A November 2023 news article about the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act summed up the problem for Key deer this way: "Rising seas created the Key deer. Rapidly rising seas, a symptom of human-caused climate change, are challenging its continued existence and raising tough questions for the people trying to keep the nation's more than 1,300 other threatened and endangered species alive."[14]

Screw worm infestation edit

In September 2016, a screw worm infestation was discovered (the first infestation of its kind in the U.S. since 1982) to be affecting the Key deer population, necessitating the euthanasia of affected animals. The screw worm is a fly larva that enters an open wound of a live animal and eats the flesh of the animal from within, leading to a gruesome death. The female fly mates once in her life, so the infestation can be battled by introducing sterile male flies to the population, causing the females to die out without laying fertile eggs. Other steps to battle the outbreak included injecting deer with antiparasitic drugs, fencing off healthy sections of the population, and tracking a portion of deer with radio collars. The pest was declared as eradicated in April 2017. The outbreak killed 135 deer, roughly an eighth of the herd.[15][16][17][18]

Conservation efforts edit

Conservation efforts include the establishment of the National Key Deer Refuge, which consists of about 8,500 acres (34 km2) on Big Pine, No Name Key, and several smaller uninhabited islands. Not all of the refuge lands are protected as public lands; despite extensive efforts of the refuge to purchase these private habitat lands for protection in the refuge, about 5,000 acres (20 km2) currently remain in private ownership and can potentially be developed. About 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of this privately developable land is on Big Pine Key and No Name Key, which are the central population areas for the deer.[citation needed] In 2006, a habitat conservation plan was enacted by Monroe County and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which will limit development in primary habitat and provide for additional habitat purchases over the next 15 years. At the end of this period, however, most of the 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of privately owned habitat land on Big Pine and No Name Keys will still be open for further development. Thus, while the short term promises some cushion from extinction, the long-term prospects for the deer remain in doubt.[citation needed]

A portion of U.S. Route 1 was also elevated in 2003 to allow the deer to pass safely beneath the roadway, in an attempt to lessen the chance of road kills. However, no decrease in total traffic deaths has been seen.[19]

The National Key Deer Refuge encourages people to help keep the Key deer wild by not feeding them. Feeding acclimates them to humans and vehicles, and makes them more likely to be hit and killed by vehicles. Also, hanging around people and developed areas in higher than normal densities makes them more susceptible to diseases, dog attacks, and entanglements in human trash, all of which can lead to increased injuries or death.[20]

References edit

  1. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Key Deer". National Wildlife Federation. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  3. ^ "Key Deer Information - National Key Deer Refuge - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service". www.fws.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  4. ^ "Key Deer - National Key Deer Refuge - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service". www.fws.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  5. ^ Harley, Stephen A. Miller, John P. (2002). Zoology (5th ed.). Boston [etc.]: McGraw-Hill. p. 28. ISBN 978-0070294110.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b Allen, Greg (28 August 2019). "Trump Administration Opens Door To Dropping Florida's Key Deer From Endangered List". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
  7. ^ "What do Key Deer Eat". Save Our Key Deer. 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  8. ^ "Key Deer". Friends of the Everglades. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  9. ^ "Key deer | mammal". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  10. ^ "Key Deer". Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
  11. ^ "Key Deer Recovery Plan Amendment (2022): Frequently Asked Questions". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  12. ^ Tobias, Jimmy (March 2022). "How one of Florida's most beloved animals may be close to climate extinction". The Guardian.
  13. ^ Thompson, Joanna (12 October 2023). "Assisted Migration Helps Animals Adapt to Climate Change". Sierra Magazine.
  14. ^ Rott, Nathan; Kellman, Ryan (12 November 2023). "A tiny deer and rising seas: How far should people go to save an endangered species?". NPR.
  15. ^ "Deadly fly larvae infests federally endangered Key deer population, more than 40 are euthanized". FLKeysNews.com. 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  16. ^ "Attack of the flesh-eating screwworm pushes up Key deer death toll". Miami Herald. 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  17. ^ "Healthy Key deer may be corralled to save herd". Miami Herald. 2016-10-31. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  18. ^ "Flesh-eating fly outbreak that infested rare Key deer is over, feds say". Miami Herald. 2017-04-12. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  19. ^ Parker, Israel; Lopez, Roel; Silvy, Nova; Davis, Donald; Owen, Catherine (September 2011). "Long-Term Effectiveness of US 1 Crossing Project in Reducing Florida Key Deer Mortality". Wildlife Society Bulletin. 35 (3): 296–302. doi:10.1002/wsb.45. JSTOR wildsocibull2011.35.3.296.
  20. ^ "Key Deer Information". National Key Deer Refuge. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved February 5, 2019.

Further reading edit

  • Deer Specialist Group (1996). "Odocoileus virginianus ssp. clavium". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996. Retrieved 11 May 2006. Listed as Endangered (EN D v2.3)
  • Authorities: Habitat Conservation Plan, 2006; FWS Biological Opinion on NFIP, August 2008

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Odocoileus virginianus clavium.
  • National Fish and Wildlife Service species account 2007-06-08 at the Wayback Machine
  • National Key Deer Refuge site
  • Key Deer Information
  • Key Deer at floridaconservation.org 2009-02-01 at the Wayback Machine

January 01, 1970
deer, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, july, 2016, learn, wh. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Key deer news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2016 Learn how and when to remove this message The Key deer Odocoileus virginianus clavium is an endangered subspecies of the white tailed deer that lives only in the Florida Keys It is the smallest extant North American deer species 2 Key deer A female on Big Pine Key Conservation status Critically Imperiled NatureServe 1 Endangered ESA Scientific classification Domain Eukaryota Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Mammalia Order Artiodactyla Family Cervidae Subfamily Capreolinae Genus Odocoileus Species O virginianus Subspecies O v clavium Trinomial name Odocoileus virginianus claviumBarbour amp G M Allen 1922 Key Deer range Contents 1 Description 2 Behavior 3 Breeding 4 Distribution and habitat 5 Diet 6 History 6 1 Endangered status 6 2 Screw worm infestation 7 Conservation efforts 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksDescription editThis deer can be recognized by its characteristic size smaller than all other white tailed deer Adult males known as bucks usually weigh 25 34 kg 55 75 lb and stand about 76 cm 30 in tall at the shoulder Adult females does usually weigh between 20 and 29 kg 44 and 64 lb and have an average height of 66 cm 26 in at the shoulders The deer is a reddish brown to grey brown in color Antlers are grown by males and shed between February and March and regrown by June When the antlers are growing they have a white velvet coating The subspecies otherwise generally resembles other white tailed deer in appearance 3 Behavior editKey deer easily swim between islands Living close to humans they have little of the natural fear of humans shown by most of their larger mainland relatives an example of island tameness The deer are often found in residents yards and along roadsides where plants and flowers grow This often results in car to deer collisions as the deer are more active and harder to avoid at night Seeing them at dusk and dawn is not unusual 4 Breeding editBreeding occurs all year but peaks in October and December Territorial activity is limited to defending a receptive doe from other bucks Longevity records are 9 years for males and 7 years for females Adult females form loose matriarchal groups with one or two generations of offspring while bucks feed and bed together only outside the breeding season 5 Distribution and habitat editThe range of the Key deer originally encompassed all of the lower Florida Keys where standing water pools exist but is now limited to a stretch of the Florida Keys from about Sugarloaf Key to Bahia Honda Key Key deer use all islands during the wet season when drinking water is more generally available retreating to islands with a perennial supply of fresh water in dry months By August 2019 most individuals were living on only one of the Florida Key islands Big Pine Key 6 Key deer inhabit nearly all habitats within their range including pine rocklands hardwood hammocks mangroves and freshwater wetlands Diet editThe species feeds on over 150 types of plants but mangroves red white and black silver palm fruit and thatch palm berries make up the most important parts of their diets 7 Pine rockland habitat is important as well because it is often the only reliable source of fresh drinking water Key deer can tolerate drinking only mildly brackish water Habitat destruction due to human encroachment causes many deer to feed on non native ornamental plants which may only increase the likelihood of human conflict 8 9 History editThe Key deer is a subspecies of white tailed deer which migrated to the Florida Keys from the mainland over a land bridge during the Wisconsin glaciation The earliest known written reference to Key deer comes from the writings of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda a Spanish sailor shipwrecked in the Florida Keys and captured by Native Americans in the 1550s nbsp A male Key Deer on No Name Key in the lower Keys nbsp A female Key deer on Big Pine Key nbsp A juvenile Key deer is called a fawn nbsp Due to proximity most Key deer have lost their fear of humans This besides habitat loss is the main reason why they have become endangered Endangered status edit Key deer were hunted as a food supply by native tribes passing sailors and early settlers Hunting them was banned in 1939 but widespread poaching and habitat destruction caused the subspecies to plummet to near extinction by the 1950s The National Key Deer Refuge a federally administered National Wildlife Refuge operated by the Wildlife Service was established in 1957 Recent population estimates put the population between 700 and 800 putting it on the list of endangered species Road kills from drivers on US 1 which traverses the deer s small range are also a major threat averaging between 125 and 150 kills per year 70 of the annual mortality The population has been impacted by the fragmentation destruction and degradation of its habitat generally due to urbanization Human feeding of deer has also proven problematic as the animals become dependent on this food source Fences have become an obstacle to migration and dispersal 10 However the population has made an encouraging rise since 1955 when population estimates ranged as low as 25 and appears to have stabilized in recent years Still recent human encroachment into the fragile habitat and the deer s relatively low rate of reproduction point to an uncertain future for the subspecies In August 2019 the USFWS recommended that the Key deer be delisted due to recovery 6 The species remained listed but its recovery plan was amended in 2022 to specify the conditions in which delisting or downlisting would be appropriate 11 The ongoing rise in sea level owing to climate change is a new threat to its remaining habitat on the islands of southern Florida 12 Beginning in 2023 when assisted migration was newly authorized as a recovery option for endangered species Key deer was among the animal species mentioned in the press that might have no other option for escaping extinction in its historical range 13 A November 2023 news article about the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act summed up the problem for Key deer this way Rising seas created the Key deer Rapidly rising seas a symptom of human caused climate change are challenging its continued existence and raising tough questions for the people trying to keep the nation s more than 1 300 other threatened and endangered species alive 14 Screw worm infestation edit In September 2016 a screw worm infestation was discovered the first infestation of its kind in the U S since 1982 to be affecting the Key deer population necessitating the euthanasia of affected animals The screw worm is a fly larva that enters an open wound of a live animal and eats the flesh of the animal from within leading to a gruesome death The female fly mates once in her life so the infestation can be battled by introducing sterile male flies to the population causing the females to die out without laying fertile eggs Other steps to battle the outbreak included injecting deer with antiparasitic drugs fencing off healthy sections of the population and tracking a portion of deer with radio collars The pest was declared as eradicated in April 2017 The outbreak killed 135 deer roughly an eighth of the herd 15 16 17 18 Conservation efforts editConservation efforts include the establishment of the National Key Deer Refuge which consists of about 8 500 acres 34 km2 on Big Pine No Name Key and several smaller uninhabited islands Not all of the refuge lands are protected as public lands despite extensive efforts of the refuge to purchase these private habitat lands for protection in the refuge about 5 000 acres 20 km2 currently remain in private ownership and can potentially be developed About 1 000 acres 4 0 km2 of this privately developable land is on Big Pine Key and No Name Key which are the central population areas for the deer citation needed In 2006 a habitat conservation plan was enacted by Monroe County and the US Fish and Wildlife Service which will limit development in primary habitat and provide for additional habitat purchases over the next 15 years At the end of this period however most of the 1 000 acres 4 0 km2 of privately owned habitat land on Big Pine and No Name Keys will still be open for further development Thus while the short term promises some cushion from extinction the long term prospects for the deer remain in doubt citation needed A portion of U S Route 1 was also elevated in 2003 to allow the deer to pass safely beneath the roadway in an attempt to lessen the chance of road kills However no decrease in total traffic deaths has been seen 19 The National Key Deer Refuge encourages people to help keep the Key deer wild by not feeding them Feeding acclimates them to humans and vehicles and makes them more likely to be hit and killed by vehicles Also hanging around people and developed areas in higher than normal densities makes them more susceptible to diseases dog attacks and entanglements in human trash all of which can lead to increased injuries or death 20 References edit NatureServe Explorer 2 0 Retrieved 28 March 2022 Key Deer National Wildlife Federation Retrieved 2021 06 17 Key Deer Information National Key Deer Refuge U S Fish and Wildlife Service www fws gov Retrieved 2021 06 17 Key Deer National Key Deer Refuge U S Fish and Wildlife Service www fws gov Retrieved 2021 06 17 Harley Stephen A Miller John P 2002 Zoology 5th ed Boston etc McGraw Hill p 28 ISBN 978 0070294110 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link a b Allen Greg 28 August 2019 Trump Administration Opens Door To Dropping Florida s Key Deer From Endangered List NPR org Retrieved 2019 08 29 What do Key Deer Eat Save Our Key Deer 2017 08 28 Retrieved 2023 08 05 Key Deer Friends of the Everglades Retrieved 2021 06 17 Key deer mammal Encyclopedia Britannica Retrieved 2021 06 17 Key Deer Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Key Deer Recovery Plan Amendment 2022 Frequently Asked Questions U S Fish and Wildlife Service Retrieved 6 November 2023 Tobias Jimmy March 2022 How one of Florida s most beloved animals may be close to climate extinction The Guardian Thompson Joanna 12 October 2023 Assisted Migration Helps Animals Adapt to Climate Change Sierra Magazine Rott Nathan Kellman Ryan 12 November 2023 A tiny deer and rising seas How far should people go to save an endangered species NPR Deadly fly larvae infests federally endangered Key deer population more than 40 are euthanized FLKeysNews com 2016 10 03 Retrieved 2016 11 01 Attack of the flesh eating screwworm pushes up Key deer death toll Miami Herald 2016 10 19 Retrieved 2016 11 01 Healthy Key deer may be corralled to save herd Miami Herald 2016 10 31 Retrieved 2016 11 01 Flesh eating fly outbreak that infested rare Key deer is over feds say Miami Herald 2017 04 12 Retrieved 2017 06 23 Parker Israel Lopez Roel Silvy Nova Davis Donald Owen Catherine September 2011 Long Term Effectiveness of US 1 Crossing Project in Reducing Florida Key Deer Mortality Wildlife Society Bulletin 35 3 296 302 doi 10 1002 wsb 45 JSTOR wildsocibull2011 35 3 296 Key Deer Information National Key Deer Refuge U S Fish amp Wildlife Service Retrieved February 5 2019 Further reading editDeer Specialist Group 1996 Odocoileus virginianus ssp clavium IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 1996 Retrieved 11 May 2006 old form url Listed as Endangered EN D v2 3 Authorities Habitat Conservation Plan 2006 FWS Biological Opinion on NFIP August 2008External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Odocoileus virginianus clavium National Fish and Wildlife Service species account Archived 2007 06 08 at the Wayback Machine National Key Deer Refuge site Key Deer Research Project Key Deer Information Key Deer at floridaconservation org Archived 2009 02 01 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Key deer amp oldid 1219462086, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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