Ecology and management of overabundant white-tailed deer from suburban Chicago, Illinois

Burgeoning numbers of deer in metropolitan areas has increased human-deer conflicts and management of overabundant deer continues to frustrate agencies nationwide. However, the natural and/or human-induced mechanisms that normally influence suburban deer populations are poorly understood. We marked 208 (60 bucks, 148 does) white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from 8 forest preserves in suburban Chicago, Illinois (1994–98). Additionally, we culled 4,645 deer (1,769 bucks, 2,876 does) from 33 forest preserves near Chicago, Illinois (1989–2000) including 1,869 deer (751 bucks, 1,118 does) from the 10 km2 Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve (WFGFP; 1992–2000).; Seasonal and annual survivorship were >0.80 for does and bucks. Deer-vehicle collisions produced the highest mortality rates and survival in does was negatively associated with access to roads within their home ranges. Dispersal for does was 7% for fawns and 6% for yearlings and adults; and for bucks 50% for fawns and 7% for yearlings and adults. High survival and philopatry by suburban deer contribute to overabundance in metropolitan areas.; Nearly 17% of fawns bred annually, averaging 1.07 fetuses/pregnant doe (n = 70, 95% CI:0.95–1.19). Greater than 96% of yearling and adult does bred annually, averaging 1.61 and 1.97 fetuses/pregnant doe, respectively. Gross recruitment rate had a negative linear relationship with density (r = 0.76, P = 0.02), suggesting density dependence at WFGFP. Increasing reproduction in all does and increasing survival of neonates at lower population densities counteracted the effects of changing sex and age structure at WFGFP.; We used empirical data to construct a suburban deer population model using STELLA 5.0 software. For 8 years (1992–1999), the preremoval model estimates predicted independently recorded deer-vehicle collisions ( r = 0.91, P < 0.001) and population reconstructions (r = 0.88, P < 0.001) for WFGFP. Subtracting the annual number of males and females culled from WFGFP resulted in postremoval population estimates that also predicted reported deer-vehicle collisions (r = 0.73, P < 0.007) and reconstructed population (r = 0.62, P < 0.02).; These data will help to fill a void in our knowledge about suburban deer life histories and population dynamics and, thereby provide information essential for the management of overabundant deer.