Deer Predators
Links below to research and news about these major predators of deer. Population and other information for each state (use drop down menu above "By State") is near the bottom of the right column.
Coyotes Lions Wolves Bears Bobcats Pythons Hunters
“Predators don’t control prey. The prey control the predators.” Dr. James. C Kroll
What's Left To Learn After 40 Years Of Deer Research? April 27, 2023. Dr. James C. Kroll, North American Whitetail
... There is a critical need for research on how to manage both deer and predators; and so far that need has not been satisfied...
Multi-predator Systems
Research
White‐tailed deer exploit temporal refuge from multi‐predator and human risks on roads - Ecology and Evolution, 2022
... . Deer nursery groups (i.e., ≥1 fawn present) were more diurnal than adult deer without fawns, causing fawns to have 24–38% less overlap with carnivores and 39% greater overlap with humans. Supporting our hypothesis, deer nursery groups appeared to optimize diel activity to minimize combined mortality risk. Temporal refuge for fawns was likely the result of carnivores avoiding humans, simplifying diel risk of five species into a trade-off between diurnal humans and nocturnal carnivores. Functional redundancy among multiple predators with shared behaviors may partially explain why white-tailed deer fawn predation rates are often similar among single- and multi-predator systems ...