Wildlife research

Wildlife research staff specialize in a variety of fields, including wildlife population dynamics, monitoring, harvest projection and disease ecology, with expertise spanning the diversity of wildlife across the state.

Staff collaborates with universities, federal and state agencies, tribal partners and conservation groups across the state and country to help meet the DNR’s high-priority research needs. The wildlife research team also provides science participation opportunities through hunter, trapper, landowner and public volunteer programs.

Wildlife Research Studies

Snapshot Wisconsin

Goal: Provide the opportunity for the public to get involved in wildlife monitoring and provide data necessary for wildlife management decisions. Learn more about contributing to wildlife research with the Snapshot Wisconsin community.

Black Bear Litter And Diet Survey

Goal: Determine key reproductive parameters, such as litter size and frequency, in each bear management zone.

Assessment of PFAS Contamination in Waterfowl

Goal: Understand the relationship between levels of PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” in water and waterfowl across Wisconsin to support decision making on potential waterfowl consumption advisories.

Southwest Wisconsin CWD, Deer and Predator Study

Goal: Evaluate population-level impacts of various deer mortality factors, focusing on CWD impacts, and improve our understanding of deer/predator associations. Details are available on the project website.

Advancing The Deer Population Model

Goal: Use available deer data to assess the current deer population monitoring framework and explore new models for improvement.

Deer Hunter Demographics and Deer Harvest 

Goal: Describe changing patterns in the number of deer hunters, project future hunter numbers and examine the consequences of fewer deer hunters in terms of deer harvest.

Hunter Perceptions and Responses to Chronic Wasting Disease

Goal: Understand Wisconsin deer hunter perceptions of CWD and how hunter behaviors might affect the spread of CWD.

Assessing Elk Population Monitoring

Goal: Evaluate and improve elk population monitoring data collection and analyses to better inform the Elk Advisory Committee’s decision-making process.

Evaluation of Black Bear Management

Goal: Support agency evaluation of progress on goals in Wisconsin’s current Black Bear Management Plan and prepare for the 2029-2039 plan.

Evaluating Potential Impacts of Solar Energy Facilities on Greater Prairie-Chicken Populations in Central Wisconsin

Goal: Investigate the effects of solar energy facilities on greater prairie-chickens to inform management strategies.

Detectability and Movement of Wild Turkeys in Wisconsin

Goal: Estimate accurate turkey recruitment metrics by pairing multiple monitoring methods, including GPS/radio-tracked turkeys and data collected from trail cameras.

Assessing Impacts of Goose and Swan Herbivory on Wild Rice 

Goal: Investigate the impacts of herbivory (grazing) of wild rice by Canada geese and trumpeter swans.

Public Engagement With Endangered Resources Conservation

Goal: Determine why members of the public engage in voluntary actions that support the conservation of rare and endangered species and their habitats, including obtaining an Endangered Resources license plate.

Evaluation and Improvement of Wolf Population Monitoring

Goal: To review, evaluate and improve monitoring of Wisconsin's wolf population to inform management decisions.

Understanding the Dynamics of Wisconsin's Bobcat Hunters and Trappers

Goal: Determine the primary drivers of bobcat hunter and trapper numbers and project future permit wait times under various harvest scenarios.

Evaluation of Sharp-Tailed Grouse Survey Methods for Improved Population Monitoring

Goal: To evaluate the effectiveness of current sharp-tailed grouse lek count survey protocols and explore potential alternative procedures.

Scientific Consulting

In addition to the research projects above, the Office of Applied Science also provides consultation services to the Division of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. These consultation services are often in the form of population analyses, scientific design and analysis services and consultation on management issues to ensure the best possible scientific information is available to decision-makers. 

The open dialogue between the Office of Applied Science and the Bureaus of Wildlife Management and Fisheries Management helps drive our research focuses so that research directly fills the research needs of decision-makers.  

Publications and reports

View a list and links to our recent journal publications and reports. Visit the Deer and CWD Scientific Publications page for papers on that topic.