“The Wyoming Range Mule Deer Project was initiated in 2013. Since then, the collaborative project has documented the challenges that fawns face on their first year of life for 745 newborns, documented migratory routes for 600, assessed survival of 181 males ranging from 1 to 11 years of age, documented the vagaries and challenges of life for 463 female deer across 12 years encompassing drought and severe winters including the most catastrophic winter for decades, and investigated 960 mortalities. And along the way, answering questions that heretofore were only a realm of fascination because of what it takes to gain the answers. Daughters learning how to use the landscape from their mothers. Other daughters leaving behind everything they know and walking blindly into the unknown to start new life in another place. The long-term, individual-based work has and will continue to reveal the intimate ties these animals have with their environment, how they are affected by and respond to it, and what our presence holds for their future.”-
Dr. Kevin Monteith
[email protected]
Migration is key to the survival of mule deer and other wildlife. Understanding migration paths is a key to conserving mule deer and other wildlife for generations to come. As our landscapes become more developed conservation of migration corridors is becoming more important. This is the story of Wyoming’s mule deer. Ongoing migration research is setting the standard for mule deer conservation across the West.
