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The Key Deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) is an endangered deer that lives only in the Florida Keys. It is a subspecies of the White-tailed Deer (O. virginianus).
Physical description and behavior
This deer can be recognized by its characteristic size, smaller than all other White-tailed Deer. Adult males (known as bucks) usually weigh from 25 to 34 kg (55 to 75 pounds) and stand about 76 cm (30 inches) tall at the shoulder. Adult females (does) usually weigh between 20 to 29 kg (45 and 65 pounds) and have an average height of 66 cm (26 inches) at the shoulders. The deer is a reddish-brown to grey-brown in color. Antlers are grown by males and shed between February and March and regrown by June. The species otherwise generally resembles other white-tailed deer in appearance.
Key Deer easily swim between islands.
Reproduction
Mating can occur at any time of the year but usually peaks during mating season (rut) from September to November. Key Deer have a relatively low reproductive rate, averaging 1.08 young (fawns) per adult doe per year.
Range, habitat, and diet
The range of the Key Deer originally encompassed most of the Florida Keys, but is now limited to a stretch of the lower Florida Keys of about 9.7 km (6 miles).
The islands of Big Pine, Cudjoe, West Summerland, Big Torch, Howe, Little Pine, Little Torch, Middle Torch, No Name, and Sugarloaf are the only places where the deer permanently reside. The deer also can be found on the islands of Annette, Big Munson, Little Munson, Johnson, Knockemdown, Mayo, Porpoise, Ramrod, Toptree Hammock, Wahoo, Water Key (east) and Water Keys (west), but they are only present there in the dry season where there is a lack of a fresh water.
Key Deer use all islands during the wet season when drinking water is more generally available, retreating to islands with a perennial supply of fresh water in dry months.
Key Deer inhabit nearly all habitats within their range, including pine rocklands, hardwood hammocks, mangroves, and freshwater wetlands. The species feed on over 150 types of plants, but mangroves (red, white, and black) and thatch palm berries make up the most important part of their diet. Pine rockland habitat is important as well because it often offers the only reliable source of fresh drinking water (key deer can tolerate drinking only mildly brackish water). Habitat destruction due to human encroachment causes many deer now feed on non-native ornamental plants.
History
It is believed that Key Deer is a subspecies of White-tailed Deer which migrated to the Florida Keys from the mainland over a land bridge during the Wisconsin glaciation (the most recent ice age). The earliest known written reference to Key Deer comes from the writings of Hernando d'Escalante Fontaneda, a Spanish sailor shipwrecked in the Florida Keys and captured by Native Americans in the 1550s.
Endangered status
Deer were hunted as a food supply by native tribes, passing sailors, and early settlers. The hunting of Key Deer was banned in 1939, but widespread poaching and habitat destruction caused the subspecies to plummet to near-extinction by the 1950s. The National Key Deer Refuge, a federally-administered National Wildlife Refuge operated by the Fish and Wildlife Service, was established in 1957.Recent population estimates put the population between 300 and 800, putting it on the list of endangered species. Road kills from drivers on U.S. Route 1, which traverses the deer's small range, are also a major threat, averaging between 30 and 40 kills per year, 70 percent of the annual mortality.
However, the population has made an encouraging rise since 1955, when population estimates ranged as low as 25, and appears to have stabilized in recent years. Still, recent human encroachment into the fragile habitat and the deer's relatively low rate of reproduction point to an uncertain future for the species.
Conservation efforts
Conservation steps include the establishment of the National Key Deer Refuge, which consists of approximately 8500 acres (34 km²) on Big Pine, No Name Key and several smaller uninhabited islands. The refuge provides for the strict control of feral dogs, which often attack the deer. Portions of U.S. Route 1 have also been reconfigured and elevated to allow the deer to pass safely beneath the roadway, lessening the chance of road kills. Biologists have recently begun relocating some Key Deer from Big Pine Key to other islands, since Big Pine Key's population has reached its sustainable limit.
References
- Listed as Endangered (EN D v2.3)
External links
"Key Deer"