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Close up of CWTD doe with eye ring. Photo: WDFW

The Columbian White tailed Deer, is a State and Federally listed Endangered species. The deer was a native resident as noted by Lewis and Clark in their travels in the area. The clearing of riparian lands for agriculture and un-restricted hunting had reduced the population of Columbia white-tails to a low of 200 to 400 animals early in the 1900's. The Columbia white-tails are divided into two herds--one on 2000-acre Tenasillahe Island reserve in the Columbia River, and one on the Columbian White-Tailed Deer National Wildlife Refuge along the lower Columbia River.

The Columbian white-tailed deer thrived under the protection of these refuges and were even considered to be candidates for down-listing in 1995. But, in February of 1996, both Tenasillahe Island and the mainland deer refuge experienced severe flooding. As a result of these floods, half of the Washington population of Columbia white-tailed deer was lost. Since then, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) have been working hard to recover these populations. Recently whitetails were re-introduced onto two islands near Longview, WA.

The Columbian whitetails resemble other white-tailed deer from eastern Washington or other areas of the US. The most notable visual characteristic is the white eye-ring, which is present on both females and males. White-tailed deer antlers varies from the local black-tailed deer by all the points coming off of the main beam rather than branching into forks like black-tailed deer or mule deer.

Hunters in the Longview area, particularly Fisher Island, Willow Grove and Barlow Point should be extremely cautious in identifying their deer before shooting. All the transplanted deer were outfitted with colored ear tags, but any young born of those transplanted animals will have no extra marks.

The objective of the transplant is to re-introduce the deer into historical habitat so that it can be considered for delisted from the State and Federal ESA lists. Illegal harvest of these deer will slow or stop this process. Hunters are urged to be extra careful and look carefully for the white eye-ring and antler structure that will confirm identification.