PRESS RELEASE

March 6, 2019

Seminar to Provide Solutions for Human – Deer Conflicts

The Pennsylvania Urban Deer Conflict Management Seminar will address ways to resolve conflicts and co-exist with deer and other wildlife.

Media, PA – With more than 1.4 million white tailed-deer in the state of Pennsylvania it is not surprising that many urban areas experience human-deer conflicts. These conflicts can range from deer feeding on garden plants to roadway collisions.

In an effort to educate the public about how to resolve these conflicts with deer in their communities the Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control (BIWFC) will host a Pennsylvania Urban Deer Conflict Management Seminar on Monday, March 25 at Dixon University Center. This free seminar will provide municipalities with effective and sustainable ways to co-exist and mitigate conflicts with deer and other wildlife.

“We receive a lot of inquiries about deer conflict management from people in Pennsylvania,” explains Stephanie Boyles Griffin, BIWFC’s Science and Policy Director. “We want people to have the information they need to co-exist with urban wildlife. We hope the seminar will help them better understand how to address these conflicts and how to put together a sustainable plan for their communities.”

The seminar will feature speakers John Griffin, Senior Director of the Urban Wildlife programs at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and Laura Simon, an Urban Wildlife Consultant. They will present a model deer conflict management plan that provides municipal and community leaders with a framework to build stakeholder engagement, identify root causes of conflict, and comprehensively address problems using a science-based and sustainable approach. The speakers will also offer strategies for protecting gardens and plants, reducing the incidence of Lyme disease and decreasing deer-vehicle collisions.

This seminar is the first in a series hosted by the Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control and sponsored by The Dietrich W. Botstiber Foundation and The Humane Society of the United States. Subsequent seminars are planned for the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas later in 2019. For more information visit wildlifefertilitycontrol.org/events/deer-seminar/.

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Contact: Rose Lombardo, rlombardo@botstiber.org