Before this week, President of Seneca White Deer Dennis Money could be heard referring to the abundance of the animals at the Seneca Army Depot. He spoke of as many as two hundred of the rare deer in the area, not albino, just expressing a regressive white gene.
But recently, Money did a helicopter survey of the land, and counted the deer that stood out, stark white, against the landscape.
"We found between seventy five and eighty deer, which is down about sixty percent from the last time the deer were censused, about seven or eight years ago."
Money admits that they may have missed some, and estimates a ten-deer margin of error.
Even so, he says he's worried. The deer are protected by miles of fence at the old Army Depot, and off-limits to hunters, but Money says there could be a wealth of reasons why their numbers have diminished.
Predators like coyotes and even a few poachers can be devastating to the deer, but Money says more likely, long winters with sparse food supplies are responsible.
"What this means is that if we get control of a certain part of the Depot, we would do our best to improve the habitat, put out food plots, and try to rebuild especially the white deer population to enhance a tourism attraction."
The 7000 acres between Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake that make up the old Army Depot is up for bid, and the Seneca County Industrial Development Agency says it could go to one or multiple developers.
Money is aggressively fundraising to help Seneca White Deer get at least one of those bids, and turn the area into an eco-tourism park to protect the population, and give people a chance to experience these so-called charismatic megafauna.
