A Riverdale resident and dogwalker says she’s curious about the number of wild mule deer making her Whitehorse neighbourhood their home base lately.

Riverdale North NDP MLA Carmen Gustafson has been seeing more deer in her yard, on the streets and in the greenbelt this season.

When she moved to Whitehorse from southern British Columbia three years ago, it was rare for her to see deer in the city, she said.

But she appreciates sharing space with the animals, who she said have been going to bed over a hill at the base of Grey Mountain Road near her home.

“You can see their tracks and the spots where they bed down,” she said.

“You can see them up there in the morning sometimes sort of surveying their kingdom, like The Lion King.”

Yukon Conservation Officer Services confirmed it has been getting calls about deer in Riverdale and elsewhere in Whitehorse. There is a total of seven to 10 does and fawns going to the neighbourhood to feed, it said.

An emailed statement on behalf of the service attributed the increased numbers to high snow levels, access to food, and safety from predators.

There’s always an increase in deer sightings in Whitehorse’s urban subdivisions at this time of year, it said.

One local deer expert who works at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve said deer have been present in Whitehorse for about 100 years. Rebecca Carter, a senior wildlife interpreter at the preserve, said their range extends from around Dawson City to Central Mexico.

Carter echoed the conservation service in saying that multiple factors are contributing to the recent increase in deer sightings.

Harsh cold and deep snow are among the reasons, she said.

The animals can find food like bird seed closer to where people live, and they move more easily on plowed roads and compacted trails.

“They have really small feet, and they’re kind of a short animal, too. … And so it makes it really hard to navigate deep snow areas, but also to dig in the deep snow to get food that’s buried,” she said.

“This may just be a lot of factors coming together that we’re seeing a large increase in deer, but it may just be the deer that are moving into the area.”

While there’s no territory-wide deer population estimate, the Government of Yukon’s first aerial deer surveys counted 130 deer along the Alaska-Klondike highway corridor in 2024.

Much like animals such as mice and red foxes, Carter said deer can thrive in urban and suburban environments.

“We are the wilderness city, so we do exist with a lot of these animals,” she said.