Florida Key Deer

Description

The Florida Key Deer is endangered throughout its range. The Florida Key Deer is the smallest race of North American deer. Adult Key Deer range from about 25-30 inches tall at the shoulder. The males weigh an average of 55-75 pounds and the females weigh 45-65 pounds. The Florida Key Deer has a broader skull, stockier body, and shorter legs than any other species of white-tailed deer. The coat may vary from a whitish-gray to a deep reddish brown color. By their second year bucks tend to have antlers and by their fifth year they tend to have eight points. Approximately 60 plants are part of the Key Deer's diet, but its main food source is the red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle). There is a possibility that most of the plants in the Key Deer's habitat are part of its food source at one time or another. The plants they choose to eat may change seasonally depending on availability and nutritional needs. Some plants are eaten almost continuously which results in the plants near extinction.

Reproduction

Breeding peaks in September and October, but usually occurs all season. The only noted territorial activity seems limited to protecting a receptive doe from other bucks. The earliest breeders are usually bucks with full racks and yearling males and males with lesser racks are usually excluded. The rainy season of April and May is generally the peak of fawning. The female Key Deer averages only about 1.08 fawns per year, which is a relatively low reproductive rate. There are usually more male fawns, but the sex ratio changes until the female adults outnumber the males 2.38 to 1. Females can live up to 17 years while males only tend to live up to 8 years. Loose matriarchal groups are formed among the females with one or two generations of offspring. The males, however, only feed and bed together in the non-breeding season.

Distribution and Population

Monroe County, Florida is the area in which the Key Deer live. There are currently about 250-300 Key Deer. The number of Key Deer in 1955 was estimated to be about 25-80.

Habitat

The Key Deer will consistently use only islands with permanent fresh water as their habitat. More than two-thirds of the Key Deer population is supported by No Name Key (998 acres) and Big Pine Key (5,997 acres). Both locations have spacious pineland habitats and permanent fresh water. A study implies that the Key Deer choose their habitat in the following order of preference: pinelands, hardwood hammocks, buttonwood-scrub mangrove, mangrove swamp, and developed areas. The selection of a habitat varies greatly depending on sex of animal, time of day, age of animal, and season. Feeding areas that are used include recent clearings, grassy areas, pinelands, roadsides, and hardwood hammock. The Key Deer will graze voluminous amounts for 6 months or more on burned-over pinelands that produce new growth. The Key Deer use hammocks and mangrove swamps as a cool getaway during the hot days. The female Key Deer has a home range of about 138 acres while the male has a home range that averages 299 acres and increases during breeding season.

Reasons for Current Status

The loss of habitat to development is the greatest loss the Key Deer suffers. If the anticipated growth in population occurs then the Key Deer will suffer an even greater loss of habitat. Free-roaming dogs, road kills, and mortality of young that fall into drainage ditches are several other current factors that effect the population of the Florida Key Deer. In the 1940's and 1950's an important factor for decreasing the Key Deer population was probably over hunting with dogs and jacklights.

A few suggestions to manage and protect the Florida Key Deer:

Continue to have a closed hunting season

Prescribed burning in pinelands habitat

Acquisition additional refuge habitat on Big Pine, No Name, and Cudjoe Keys

Eliminate public feedings

Management of vegetation along selected roadways

Management of visitors

Eliminate public feeding

Monitoring population and habitat

Maintenance of existing water holes

Additional research on all aspects of Key deer biology

Provide underpasses to allow deer to cross safely under U.S. Highway 1

Speed limits along U.S. Highway 1 could be reduced to 35 miles per hour on Big Pine Key

Strict enforcement of the limits on Big Pine Key

Rigorous control of free roaming dogs

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