More than 100 deer are now in the Michel Chartrand park in Longueuil, forcing the Longueuil town hall to review how it works to reduce overpopulation.
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The mayor of Longueuil, Catherine Fournier, applied to the ministry for a permit to carry out a controlled hunt for white-tailed deer without firearms, led by a specialized team.
Catherine Fournier still wants this operation to take place in the fall, despite the city being involved in a court case over the matter.
In fact, attorney Me Anne-France Goldwater filed a lawsuit against the city of Longueuil and the Quebec government on behalf of the organization Sauvetage Animal Rescue to prevent “the massacre” of white-tailed deer.
According to the latest census by the Department for Wildlife, Forests and Parks, 108 deer live in the park, a 50% increase from 2021 and 238% from 2017.
“The park can, we recall, support at most 10 to 15 deer,” she said in a press release.
The mayor is of the opinion that the overpopulation must decrease quickly in order to restore the ecological balance. She also specifies that such a reduction could also have beneficial side effects, such as: B. reducing the number of ticks that transmit Lyme disease, the number of road accidents and damage to property around the park.
“Maintaining our hunting schedule this fall through a few controlled hunts at various intervals should allow us to target the desired reduction target,” estimates Catherine Fournier.
The details of the operation, including the number of hunters permitted and the manner of hunting, will be announced in the autumn. The utilization of the meat and its distribution to food banks are still planned.
-With information from Yves Poirier