In hard-hit mule deer range, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission may reexamine black bear and mountain lion hunting seasons after hearing pleas to kill predators from outfitters.
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IMAGE: Mule deer move across a sagebrush-covered basin in western Wyoming, where new research by University of Wyoming scientists challenges the long-held assumption that animals match offspring birth with the peak. view more
Credit: Joe Riis
A five-year study of mule deer does and newborn fawns in western Wyoming shows that migrating deer have a lot to balance when it comes to birth timing.
The study led by University of Wyoming scientists challenges the long-held assumption that animals match offspring birth with the peak green-up of forage at the birth site. Instead, only deer that migrated long distances and followed the flush of spring green-up from low elevation winter ranges to higher-elevation summer ranges were able to match birth with peak green-up. Other deer migrated shorter distances and gave birth earlier, but birth was out of sync with green-up.
April 9, 2021
Mule deer move across a sagebrush-covered basin in western Wyoming, where new research by UW scientists challenges the long-held assumption that animals match offspring birth with the peak green-up of forage at the birth site. (Joe Riis Photo)
A five-year study of mule deer does and newborn fawns in western Wyoming shows that migrating deer have a lot to balance when it comes to birth timing.
The study led by University of Wyoming scientists challenges the long-held assumption that animals match offspring birth with the peak green-up of forage at the birth site. Instead, only deer that migrated long distances and followed the flush of spring green-up from low elevation winter ranges to higher-elevation summer ranges were able to match birth with peak green-up. Other deer migrated shorter distances and gave birth earlier, but birth was out of sync with green-up.