Some island residents remember the aerial shooting of goats, which they said traumatized residents.
Deer are seen on Catalina Island in 2016. The Catalina Island Conservancy has asked for a permit to kill the mule deer on the island using sharpshooters in helicopters. They say the deer are destroying native plants and causing environmental damage. On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to oppose the action.
The supervisors suggested the conservancy try other and less drastic methods to thin the herd, such as mass sterilization or birth control, relocation — and expanding the deer hunting season. The board’s opposition to the aerial killing, and its request that alternatives be tried, will be included in a letter from the board to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife .
Hahn wants the CDFW to deny the permit, and then the conservancy would be forced to work on compromises that “would be better received by the public.”The island is home to 60 unique species of plants and animals that are being threatened by the mule deer, said Lauren Dennhardt, senior director of conservation for the Catalina Island Conservancy. “Unless we act now we can expect irreversible consequences,” she told the board.
“In my perspective, this project is so critical for climate resiliency on Catalina,” she said. She added that as a biologist it is difficult for her to see the deer eradicated but, she says, it’s either the deer or the island’s ecosystem. Julie Benson, also with the conservancy, said they have 24 letters of support from other organizations.
The deer were brought to the island about 100 years ago for sport hunting. They’ve become island tourist attractions, like the Catalina Island bison and the island foxes.
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