For years, environmental officials and local leaders, including the Staten Island borough president, have said that the increased deer population was a nuisance and health hazard. The parks department has fenced off parks and planted deer-resistant vegetation to keep the city’s greenery out of the mouths of hungry deer. The department estimates there are now about 2,000 deer on Staten Island — in 2008, a study by the state counted 24. The nonlethal experiment to reduce the deer population will cost the city $3.3 million over three years. But on Staten Island, Dr. DeNicola saw an opportunity to do something different.

Source: New York Times September 22, 2017 20:01 UTC