SEMO prof, students conduct deer survey in Cape

Using thermal imaging and spotlighting, a Southeast Missouri State University professor and students are working to determine the population density of deer in Cape Girardeau city limits.

Fidel Atuo, a science professor at SEMO, is at the helm of a team with two biology students and three engineering students working to determine the deer population ahead of a managed deer hunt in city parks in October.

This week, the group began using drones and spotlights to count the animals in four parks — Delaware, Fountain, Twin Trees and Cape Rock — where the hunts will take place. The drones take thermal images, which the team takes to a lab and scans in order to count the deer in the photo. Counting on heat signatures allows them to be more accurate.

To support the drones, the surveyors take spotlights out at night and count deer as well.

Atuo said the survey in total will take about a week with each day dedicated to a visit to a different park. However, given the size of Twin Trees, — which he said makes up about 80% of the area being surveyed — the park will require two or three visits.

The idea for the survey was spawned, in part, through conversations with a friend of Atuo's at the Missouri Department of Conservation. Both had noted it had been a long time since the deer in Cape Girardeau were surveyed — Atuo said a graduate student had undertaken the task in 2014.

"So with some motivation from my friend, we decided to launch this survey," Atuo said.

The goal of the survey is to get an accurate measurement of the number of deer per square mile and present the information to Cape Girardeau City Council members for decision-making on future managed hunts. It will help give officials a depiction of which areas of the city can support higher populations and which ones are at, or over, capacity.

The managed hunt will take place Oct. 22 to 28 in the four Cape Girardeau parks and will be bow only. It's designed to help prevent overpopulation of deer, which can lead to social issues such as disease spread and deer-related car accidents, Atuo said.

Deer have no natural predators in Missouri, which often leads to the unfettered growth of the animal's population. Managed hunts are a common way to reduce the population to sustainable numbers, Atuo said.

The professor said he knows the hunt will not be popular with everyone, but it is a healthy way to manage a population. Overpopulation can lead to the decline of the deer community because there are not enough resources to support them.

"I think it is important that when a population gets overly abundant, it should be reduced," Atuo said.

The hunt will include 40 hunters who's names will be drawn from a lottery and receive a maximum of three tags. Hunters must shoot from an elevated stand to avoid projectiles continuing on after missing a target. The managed hunt in Cape Girardeau is one of more than 100 similar programs in Missouri, according to the city's website.

Atuo said he expects the complete results of the survey to be ready be the end of September.