HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (AP) — The plan to use birth control to thin the deer herd plaguing a New York suburb has gotten off to a slow start.
Organizers say harsh weather and red tape interfered with the program in Hastings-on-Hudson. Workers were able to tranquilize, tag and inject a contraceptive into just eight doe out of a herd of 120. That’s far short of the goal of 40 to 50 in the first two years.
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The mayor and animal experts say they are committed to the program and trying again next year. It’s the first birth-control study of a free-roaming deer population in an open, suburban area in the U.S.
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Hastings deer have overrun the wooded Hillside Park, eaten up private gardens and caused more than a dozen car crashes a year.
JIM FITZGERALD, Associated Press