Plans to cull hundreds of deer on a small gulf island off the coast of Victoria have divided residents, with some calling on the government to call the plan off.
Parks Canada and local First Nations say an estimated 300 to 900 invasive European fallow deer, which were introduced to Sidney Island in the mid 1900s, are decimating the native ecosystem.
Island residents voted narrowly in February to OK a Parks Canada plan to destroy the animals, but some like Rob Milne say the initiative isn’t needed.
“They basically want to eradicate the deer on a claim there is too many and the vegetation is not recovering enough,” he said.
“But in order for them to control the invasive species of fallow deer in this national park at the tip of the island, they think the only way to do that is to eradicate the deer on the entire island, meaning the 80 per cent of it that’s private.”
Milne said islanders organized an effort more than a decade ago to remove hundreds of deer, and since then private hunters have worked annually to kill off hundreds more, bringing the population down to a sustainable level.
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“There’s a lot of risk, the aerial shooting; there’s a lot of disruption. They’re talking about getting waivers to hunt rules that let them shoot at night, semi-automatic weapons, use night lighting. They want to be able to use dogs that will chase these deer,” he said.
“Should you stay inside when this is going on? We don’t know. We’re not supposed to walk around the island we gather. We don’t know if they’re going to require us to check in to say if we’re on the island or not. We think so, but there’s no process established.”
Resident Wendy Ord also opposes the cull, saying the process seems “very inhumane.”
“It’s very difficult to determine you have a clean kill. Whereas if you have a hunter on the ground with a gun stalking the animal, they won’t shoot until they get a clean kill,” she said.
“I think we’ve been quite hoodwinked in fact. I don’t think we’ve been told the truth about what Parks Canada was planning to do, the amount of time they’re talking about, how they are going to provide safety for island residents who live here.”
But Parks Canada resource conservation manager Molly Clarkson said the science is clear.
She said the deer population has declined since the mid-2000s, but that the ecosystem they degraded has not recovered.
Areas not protected by fencing have seen little growth in native plants, and tree regeneration on the island is struggling, she said.
“None of those tree seedlings reach more than a couple of inches in height. They don’t grow past a couple of years before they are nipped by deer and die,” Clarkson explained.
Clarkson said the plan is to cull the deer humanely, with oversight from the SPCA and with qualified marksmen.
Salmon Arm-based Coastal Conservation has been awarded the $5.9-million contract to conduct the cull.
Residents, Clarkson added, will be given clear warning on shooting days.
“We’re going to be using a number of different methods to communicate with island residents. That’s going to include text message, we’re going to be emailing them, we’re going to be posting public notices, we’ll be hosting webinars,” she said.
“And also for those residents who will stay on the island during eradication … we’ll be reaching out and communicating with them directly.”
The cull is expected to begin in December.
While opinion on the island remains split about the plan, the cull has found plenty of opponents off-island.
More than 18,000 people have signed a petition calling for it to be called off.
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