E-Mail IMAGE: This map of wildlife management units in the state of Pennsylvania shows the five areas where deer were captured for this study. Values in parentheses indicate the percentage of forest... view more Credit: Diefenbach Lab, Penn State Juvenile white-tailed deer that strike out to find new home ranges -- despite facing more risks -- survive at about the same rate as those that stay home, according to a team of researchers who conducted the first mortality study of male and female dispersal where deer were exposed to threats such as hunting throughout their entire range. Dispersal occurs when a juvenile leaves the area where it was born and moves to a new location where the young animal establishes its adult home range, explained Duane Diefenbach, Penn State adjunct professor of wildlife ecology. The instinctual dispersal of young deer from the area where they were born to a new home range protects the species' gene pool from inbreeding with close relatives.