Columbia White-tailed deer

Name: Columbia white-tailed deer (photo: USFWS John Holingsworth)
(Odocoileus virginianus leucurus)
Status: State Endangered (WA), State Sensitive (OR), Federal Endangered
Listed: March 11, 1967
Description: Medium-sized deer with a cinnamon-brown coat (blue-gray in winter); triangular tail is brown above and pure white beneath
Threats: Loss of habitat, disease

Overview: The Columbia white-tailed deer is distinguished among the other 38 recognized subspecies of the white-tail by being one of the largest in size, and the westernmost in distribution. Historically found in native tidal spruce forest communities, the Columbia white-tailed deer was once considered to be abundant in the Willamette, Columbia, and Umpqua River valleys. Populations of this sub-species had once numbered in the tens of thousands. 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. In Washington, 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 Columbia white-tail 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 USFWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and the WDFW (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife) have been working hard to recover these populations. A deer reintroduction effort will begin in 2002 to bring the sub-species onto two new islands in the lower Columbia. Oregon's population of Columbia white-tails is found on dryer lands within Douglass County. Land use plans and zoning ordinances have been implemented to protect critical deer habitat, which helped the Douglass population to rise from a low of 300 deer in 1940 to the current population of almost 6,000. The USFWS proposed the delisting of the Douglass County Columbia white-tails on May 11, 1999. To check out the latest on the Columbia white-tailed deer, search the Southwest Washington Wildlife Weekly Report archive@ http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/wlm/regions/reg5/wild01archive.htm.

Distribution: Although the map data for this species has not yet been compiled, the general locations of the two refuges for the Columbia white-tailed deer in Washington are found in the south-west portion of the state. In Oregon, populations of the Columbia white-tail are limited to Douglass County, as well as the lower Columbia River. Historically, this species ranged throughout much of the Columbia River Basin and the Willamette valley.

Last updated October 11, 2001

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