One Western city hopes to reduce deadly wildlife-human interactions

As natural habitats for wildlife continue to shrink, wildlife-human interactions continue to rise, causing big problems for fish and wildlife departments most often tasked with alleviating the problems such interactions can cause (e.g., property damage, crop destruction, livestock loss, human casualties). Emily
Senkosky reports for High Country News about how one Western town is trying to prevent the problems before they start. 

Neighborhoods in Bozeman, Montana, have expanded their way outward into surrounding wild areas, and wildlife-human interactions have increased as a result. "The city’s south side is home to an estimated 60 to 80 deer per square mile, and bears and mountain lions visit Bozeman trails, green spaces and backyards," Senkosky writes. 

Noah Starling is a wildlife technician with Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks service, and told Senkosky that a big part of his job is to "euthanize animals whose behavior poses a risk to public safety." Drivers hit so many deer in the winter of 2022 that Starling was euthanizing up to six deer per day. He euthanized three bears on a single day in 2023. He enrolled in a master's program at Montana State University's to study human-wildlife interaction, spurred by his experiences. 

Starling is creating an interactive map of Bozeman and Gallatin County showing where human-wildlife conflicts are most likely in the hope that city, county and state officials can work together to reduce the number of fatal encounters for wildlife. “This is a tool that I hope will give decision-makers a way to know where conflict is occurring,” said Starling. “We can’t stop the increase of humans, but we can help increase knowledge.”