BIG PINE KEY, Fla. (AP) — The world’s only Key deer, the smallest subspecies of the white-tailed deer, is found in pine and swampy wetlands on the Florida Keys, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. For years, their biggest threat came from vehicles traveling at high speeds on US Highway 1 or local roads.
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But the waters around the islands now pose the greatest long-term risk to this herd of around 800 deer, as sea rises threaten their only habitat.
These charismatic little deer have been on the endangered list for almost 60 years, after hunting and poaching long ago reduced their numbers to around 50. Still, they made a tremendous comeback, with a peak population of about 1,000 in the mid-2010s, before a deadly parasite and Hurricane Irma took a heavy toll.
However, experts and conservation advocates say this conservation success story is at risk of being undone by climate change today. Sea level rise is already changing the landscape of Big Pine Key and at least two dozen smaller islands that the deer call home.
Most of the deer live on Big Pine Key, a swampy island 30 miles from Key West. They roam neighborhoods home to about 4,500 people, browsing lush gardens and drinking water from buckets that residents have left for them as natural freshwater supplies dwindle.
Key deer are much smaller than their North American counterparts, with the largest bucks standing less than 3 feet tall at the shoulder and weighing about 34 pounds.
“They were always vulnerable,” said Chris Bergh, program manager for the Nature Conservancy of South Florida, who oversees sea-level rise projects and lives in Big Pine Key. ‘They are much more vulnerable now. And now that sea levels are rising and their habitat is shrinking, that will become even worse.”
Highway deer deaths
On Big Pine Key, you’ll find mom and pop bars and restaurants on either side of bustling US 1, as well as gas stations and small motels. The main industry revolves around the water: charter boats, fishing, diving, vacation rentals.
To prevent the deer from being hit by vehicles, road signs tell motorists they are entering deer habitat. A 2-mile stretch of US 1 has been elevated and fenced to allow deer to cross under the road. And speed limits are strictly enforced, which often frustrates tourists driving to Key West.
Deer continue to be affected at an alarming rate. “The bottom line is that about 90 to 120 deer are killed by vehicles every year,” said Jan Svejkovsky, chief scientist for Save Our Key Deer.
Conservationists have worked hard to get the message out: don’t feed Key deer. They fear that deer will approach cars and come near roads for handouts.
Despite the traffic fatalities, the population has remained stable. But there is a greater threat looming.
Climate change is impacting deer
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that by 2100, seas will rise 0.5 to 2 meters in parts of the Florida Keys. The threat is greatest for low-lying islands such as Big Pine Key, where the highest point is only 8 feet above sea level.
Sea rise will continue to shrink freshwater and food sources. Important deer must survive, experts say.
FILE PHOTO: Endangered Key Deer is pictured in a puddle after Hurricane Irma in Big Pine Key, Florida, September 25, 2017. File photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters
“So as the sea rises, the amount of available fresh water, the amount of available tasty vegetation and the places where they can give birth to their young shrink,” says Bergh of the Nature Conservancy. “It brings them increasingly into conflict with people who also occupy those higher grounds.”
In addition to sea rises, climate change brings the threat of stronger hurricanes, with storm surges that could damage deer habitat and freshwater supplies.
Saltwater intrusion is also responsible for killing many of the Florida slash pines that give Big Pine Key its name. Mangroves grow in place in an ever-changing environment, further choking deer habitat.
Shrinking habitat is driving deer into neighborhoods
Key deer on Big Pine Key move through neighborhoods and chew on yards. Some people even have names for those who visit their garden.
“They’re very gentle, very, very gentle,” said Connie Ritchie, who sometimes sees about 30 deer a day. ‘And the longer you live here, the more you want to protect them. Big time. Protect them because they are so innocent.”
“They have certain plants that they really like,” Ritchie said, noting that the federal deer sanctuary here hosts events where they give away native plants. “So they’re trying to teach us to plant plants that the deer don’t want to eat.”
Development on Big Pine Key began in the 1970s and 1980s “when entire tracts of land on islands where deer still lived were developed into planned subdivisions, complete with saltwater canal networks to provide lot buyers with direct access to water,” says Svejkovsky of Save Our . Key deer.
While the Key remains largely rural, with modest Florida bungalows and more palatial spots, development has taken away some deer habitat.
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“There are a lot of people and wildlife living in the same, very concentrated area,” said Katy Hosokawa, a park ranger at the National Key Deer Refuge, established in 1957 on 3,457-acre Big Pine Key. “So the more houses we build, or the less land we have protected, the fewer areas they have that are safe.”
The deer have adapted to humans and move freely between wild spaces and neighborhoods. “They wander around and spend the day grazing,” Hosokawa said. “We don’t really have nutrient-rich soil, so they have to eat a lot of food to get what they need. But believe me, they are very good at it. If it is soft and tender, they will try to eat it.”
Future of the deer
The future, while uncertain, looks bleak.
Just six inches of sea rise, expected by 2030, would mean the loss of 16% of freshwater holes on Big Pine Key, said Nova Silvy, a professor emeritus at Texas A&M University who has been studying and living on Key deer since 1968. been here for several years.
By 2050, sea rise is expected to overtake about 84% of the 1,988 remaining acres of preferred habitat on Big Pine Key — and “the deer will already be gone,” Silvy said.
What happens if the deer can’t survive in the Keys?
Bergh said he prefers to buy more time to keep the deer viable here. “And at some point, when that is no longer possible, I personally think that zoos are the most responsible alternative,” he said. “But that is a terrible alternative. Who wants that for a wild animal?”
In rare cases, scientists have been allowed to translocate endangered species threatened by climate change as a last resort. But Silvy said, “The problem is that if you take them to another place with deer, they will interbreed and then you lose the Key Deer.”
Frisaro reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.