A management policy for sika deer based on sex-specific hunting

We consider here a management policy for a sika deer (Cervus nippon) population in the eastern part of Hokkaido. Deer populations are characterized by a large intrinsic rate of population increase, no significant density effects on population growth before population crash, and a relatively simple life history. Our goals of management for the deer population are (1) to avoid irruption with severe damage to agriculture and forestry, (2) to avoid the risk of extinction of the deer population, and (3) to maintain a sustainable yield of deer. To make a robust program on the basis of uncertain information about the deer population, we consider three levers of relative population size and four levels of hunting pressures. We also take into consideration a critical level for extinction, an optimal level, and an irruption level. The hunting pressure for females is set to increase with the population size. We also recommend catching males if the population size is between the critical and optimal levels and catching females and males if the population size is larger than the optimal level. We must avoid cases of irruption or threatened population under various sets of uncertain parameter values. The simulation results suggest that management based on sex-specific hunting is effective to diminish the annual variation in hunting yield.