State wildlife biologist urges town to ban feeding and pursue coordinated deer management

Brian Jones, a deer biologist with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, told residents at a town council meeting that the community’s rising deer numbers are producing measurable harms — from vehicle collisions to greater tick abundance — and urged a mix of local rules and coordinated management to reduce risks.

"Stop feeding them. They do not need your help," Jones said, adding that feeding can raise reproduction and habituation and put both deer and people at risk. He recounted local instances in which habituated deer approached people and at least one incident in which an elderly resident was injured.

Jones framed the issue around three impact categories: human health (chiefly deer‑vehicle collisions), tickborne disease risk, and ecosystem changes. He said deer are unevenly distributed across towns and neighborhoods, and that mitigation tools work differently depending on local deer density. ‘‘If you’re living in this red area,…