Florida's iconic Key deer face an uncertain future as seas rise
BIG PINE KEY, Fla. (AP) — The world’s only Key deer, the smallest subspecies of the white-tailed deer, are found in piney and marshy wetlands bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico on the Florida Keys. For years, their biggest threat was being struck by vehicles speeding along U.S. Highway 1 or local roads.
But those waters surrounding the islands now pose the biggest long-term risk for this herd of about 800 deer as sea rise jeopardizes their sole habitat.
These charismatic diminutive deer have been listed as endangered for almost 60 years after their numbers dipped to about 50 from hunting and poaching long ago. Yet they’ve made a tremendous comeback, with a peak population of about 1,000 in the mid-2010s before a deadly parasite and Hurricane Irma took a heavy toll.
However, experts and wildlife advocates say this conservation success story today is at risk of being undone by climate change. Sea level rise is already altering the landscape of Big Pine Key and at least 20 smaller islands the deer call home.
https://apnews.com/article/key-deer-climate-change-sea-level-rise-0a73bbf1f8e88bcf091f588c92b34997