Iowa City reported an increase of deer-vehicle collisions in the last year as the city’s deer population continues to grow.

During 2019-20, the city reported 14 collisions. In 2020-21, there were a total of 36 deer-vehicle collisions in Iowa City.

The deer population increase and its effect on the city is outlined in the 2020-21 Deer Management Report.

Iowa City City Manager Geoff Fruin wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan that the increase of accidents is correlated with the  . After the hunting season ended in January, the deer population was 400,000.

The deer-vehicle collision accidents occurred primarily on Highway 6 and U.S. Route 218, resulting in a total of $61,000 in damage in the past year.

“Other than immediate public safety response to the accident, the City is not involved,” Fruin wrote. “Those issues would be between a vehicle owner and the appropriate insurance company.”

Fruin wrote that Iowa City community members have expressed concern for the deer population, but also want to see the city control the population.

“Historically, the City has heard from both individuals that want to see population control and those that do not,” Fruin wrote.

The city is currently in its third year in its Deer Management Program, which started in 2019. This year, the city’s goal was to use an urban bow hunt to manage the current population.

“The last two years, we have moved to urban bow hunt allowances based on direction from the State of Iowa,” Fruin wrote.

After this year’s bow hunt, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources conducted an aerial deer density survey for all Iowa cities.

“As we see the deer population increase accordingly, we typically see those deer vehicle collisions also go up as well as, just in general, [there are] more complaints about deer in people’s yards and their driveways, and the roads and their plants,” Iowa City Assistant City Manager Rachel Kilburg said.

In addition to the urban bow hunt, Kilburg said the city also has other measures to control the deer population in the city. Specifically, Kilburg said the city is implementing non-lethal management, such as education and community outreach, on how to manage deer interactions.

Iowa City also reported an increase of seven deer-related calls, in 2021. In 2020, the city received a total of three calls.

Iowa City has been trying to manage the deer population in Iowa City since the early 1990s, Kilburg said.

“I believe that these conversations started back in the 1990s,” Kilburg said. “Over the years, we’ve seen the population flow.”