Montreal suburb begins controversial deer cull to reduce population in local park

LONGUEUIL, Que. — A Montreal suburb began an operation on Tuesday to kill white-tailed deer in one of its local parks after years of legal battles with activists seeking to save the animals.

A spokesman for the City of Longueuil confirmed that Michel-Chartrand Park is closed to the public while hunters armed with air rifles reduce the size of the herd.

“The city confirms that the deer overpopulation control operation is currently underway,” Raphaël Larocque-Cyr wrote in an email. “In order to ensure safety and ensure the smooth running of the operation, Michel-Chartrand Park is closed until further notice.”

On Tuesday afternoon, security guards manned the metal barricades blocking the entrances to the popular park, which contains some 20 kilometres of trails. Signs warned that the site was closed, under penalty of a $500 fine for those who disregard the order.

The city just south of Montreal has been trying to carry out a cull since 2020, but it faced a strong backlash and legal challenges from animal rights groups over the fate of the deer. Earlier this month the administration said it had received a provincial environment department permit to proceed with the operation, the final step needed to begin the cull. The meat from the deer is expected to be distributed to community organizations.

The city has repeatedly said the population of white-tailed deer has grown far beyond what the space can support, damaging the park’s ecosystem and contributing to an increased risk of road accidents and Lyme disease. As well, city hall says the cull is needed to restore “ecological equilibrium” to the park as the number of white-tailed deer there has tripled in recent years — from 32 in 2017 to 114 as of this year. It has previously said the park can support around 15 deer.

Authorities said the number of deer found dead in the park has risen, from 28 in 2021 to 52 in 2023.

Donald Maheux, a local resident who opposes the deer hunt, said the city’s estimate for the number of deer in the park is a “barefaced lie.” Standing outside the park’s perimeter on Tuesday, Maheux said he regularly rides his bicycle through the trails and rarely sees more than a couple deer, leading him to believe their numbers have declined.

“For sure if they kill 80 of them, there won’t be any left,” said Maheux, who suggested the park be renamed from Michel-Chartrand to “Massacre Park.”

He said he appreciates that deer are regularly hunted across the province, but he said the situation in the park is different because of the relationship between the semi-tame animals and parkgoers who have become attached to them, especially during the hard days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is a park where the animals lived alongside us,” he said. “We went for walks and they watched us, and I watched them.”

The announcement of the planned cull in 2020 led to a petition, protests, and even threats against the city’s then-mayor.

Animal rights activists lobbied for the city to relocate the excess deer to a refuge rather than killing them, but a veterinary ethics committee deemed the strategy unsafe for deer and humans alike. Other options, including sterilization or birth control, were also rejected.

Some groups challenged the plan in court, but their efforts were ultimately denied last year by Quebec’s Court of Appeal, which found the city was within its rights to authorize the cull. Last year, city officials said they were hopeful the cull would be a one-time operation, and that they would be able to employ different methods to control the population once the herd is reduced to a manageable size.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press