White deer herds at Seneca Army Depot are in grave danger, as the army depot, which closed in 2000, will no longer be able to rely on the Army Corps of Engineers to maintain the site after the end of the year, according to the Inquisitr. Hundreds of rare white deer living at the Seneca Army Depot could face death if the Amish, Native Americans or any other nonprofits fail to step in to save the deer's future.
The 7,000 fenced in acres in Seneca Army Depot are being put up for auction.
Rare white deer herd faces uncertain future as former weapons site is put up for sale https://t.co/IlHSof51LX pic.twitter.com/SK2bXneObI
— Metro News Canada (@MetroNewsCanada) November 15, 2015
Executive Director of the Seneca County Industrial Developing Agency Bob Aronson will be selling the land. Many fear the sale as the rare white deer won't survive without the protection they have been getting from the army depot. White deer are easy prey and have a very short life expectancy in the wild, often targeted not just by predators, but also hunters for their rare white pelts.
"They're a huge tourist attraction," said Lisette Wilson, who runs a bakery and store across the highway from the Seneca Army Depot. "People are astonished. It's quite the spectacle for them."
Wilson's store sells "white deer poop", made from white chocolate, almonds and cranberries as an attraction for tourists, according to the Daily Mail. Wilson goes on to say the white deer poop is the store's most popular product.
"I see white deer every day," Wilson added. "They're beautiful animals. I'm very concerned they'll lose their habitat when the property is sold."
"When we ran bus tours on a limited basis between 2006 and 2012, we had people come from all over the United States to see the deer," said Dennis Money of Seneca White Deer Inc., a preservation gtoup, according to the Ithaca Journal. "People are enchanted by them."
