Since the 1990s, the HSUS has conducted several successful PZP immunocontraception research projects on deer. The biggest and most successful have been at Fire Island National Seashore (FINS) in New York, on Fripp Island in South Carolina and at the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Md.

Fire Island National Seashore was the HSUS's original deer study site. The primary goals there were to see how effective PZP was in deer and whether or not more than 200 of them could be darted each year. Both were easily accomplished, but more importantly, we found immunocontraceptives alone could be used to stabilize and reduce a deer population over time.

Recent improvements in the PZP vaccine now prevent deer from having fawns for up to three years with just one treatment.

The HSUS has also been using PZP to treat the deer population at NIST for 20 years. During this time, the number of deer collisions has dramatically decreased, the remaining deer have become healthier and the deer population growth rate remains low, despite the fact that urbanization and development around the facility results in constant migration of new deer into the facility's deer population.

The immunocontraception study on Fripp Island, S.C., has been the most successful. Over a five-year period, the deer population decreased by nearly 60 percent. In addition, residents of Fripp Island are very pleased by the results, happy to see that the remaining deer population on the island is healthier and causing fewer conflicts.

Surgical sterilization

Sterilization programs are another option for humanely controlling the population growth of white-tailed deer and although sometimes cost-prohibitive, recent programs have shown great results.

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