Thursday, February 05, 2009

KANSAS NEWS: Too Many Deer in Shawnee Mission Park

Johnson County commissioners will be discussing at 9:30 a.m. today what to do about all the deer in Shawnee Mission Park.

People who live near the park are tired of deer destroying lawns and gardens, or leaving mounds of droppings. One woman in the area was diagnosed three years ago with Lyme disease, which is carried by infected ticks that thrive on deer.

According to the Lyme Association of Greater Kansas City, there are at least 400 deer in the park. The county parks board said this is at least eight times as many deer as the park can support. [The park is 1250 acres, so the deer population density is about 200 per square mile! - Ed.]

The parks board director said that he wants the district's biodiversity committee to come up with a plan to manage the deer herd. It could be a year before any plan could be put into place.

The park district is working on ordinances allowing for hunting of deer on public land, but these have not been approved.

Source: KMBC

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