Longueuil receives permission to begin culling deer in a local park that has become overrun
The park's deer population has surged from 32 in 2017 to 114 in 2023, while the space is only suitable for around 15 deer.
The Montreal suburb of Longueuil will move forward with a long-delayed cull of white-tailed deer in Michel-Chartrand Park, which has been overrun by the growing population. The city has been attempting to carry out the cull since 2020 but faced strong opposition and legal challenges from animal rights activists.
Recently, Longueuil secured a permit from the provincial Environment Department to proceed with the operation.
The permit, valid until mid-February 2025, allows a professional company to use air rifles to conduct the cull, scheduled to take place sometime this fall.
The park's deer population has surged from 32 in 2017 to 114 in 2023, while the space is only suitable for around 15 deer.
The city argues that the overpopulation is damaging the park's ecosystem and contributing to a rise in road accidents, an increased risk of Lyme disease, and food scarcity for the animals, forcing them to enter residential areas.
In addition, the number of dead deer in the park increased from 28 in 2021 to 52 in 2023. Longueuil had explored alternatives like sterilization, birth control, and relocating the animals, but experts determined the only feasible solution was to cull the deer.
The city’s legal battles ended in October 2023, when the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the cull, affirming that the city had the legal right to proceed.
Longueuil officials have stated that the exact timing of the cull will not be announced to ensure the process runs smoothly, and the area will be temporarily closed to the public. The city had previously planned to donate the meat from the cull to local food banks.
City leaders expressed hope that this would be a one-time operation and that once the deer population is reduced, alternative methods for population control can be implemented.
