In what has been deemed an "extreme" solution to an ecological problem, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has unanimously opposed the Catalina Island Conservancy's plan to cull the mule deer population by aerial shooting. The Conservancy proposed to shoot as many as 1,770 mule deer from helicopters, sighting the animals' detrimental impact on the island's ecosystem through overgrazing. According to a statement obtained by the Los Angeles County government's official website, Supervisor Janice Hahn expressed, "I understand the Conservancy’s concerns with the impact of the deer population, but I disagree that shooting hundreds of animals from helicopters is the right solution."
The unanimous decision aims to practically enforce the Conservancy to reconsider other methods that were previously dismissed, such as relocation, deer herd thinning through extended hunting seasons, and sterilization. Not to mention the public outrage that this has caused, petitions have already accumulated nearly 90,000 signatures to halt the plan. Hahn said, in a statement obtained by KTLA, that this plan’s methodology had been described as "extreme" by both her constituents and herself and that alternative proposals should be considered.
Those advocating for the cull, including the Conservancy, argue that the deer, which were introduced on the island in the 1930s, are now invasive, overpopulating, and posing a significant risk to native flora and fauna. The sharpshooters, as the KTLA report details, would use semi-automatic rifles to hunt the deer and due to the rugged terrain, the carcasses would have to literally be left to decompose.
The Board has taken their opposition a step further by drafting a letter to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, advocating for the permit to be denied. "Through this letter, the Board will advocate for the permit to be denied and if it is, the Conservancy will be forced to continue to work on an alternative solution that could be more widely accepted and supported," Hahn told CBS News Los Angeles. In the meantime, the island's unique species, such as the Catalina Island fox and the Catalina California quail, face competition for survival against the mule deer.
Despite the controversy, similar methods have been used in the past to manage invasive species on isolated islands in California, with the culling of pigs and goats on Catalina Island and the eradication of feral pigs on the Channel Islands. Those actions, documented in KTLA's coverage, have been heralded as conservation successes. However, the current opposition by the County Board underscores the public’s preference for less drastic measures. The recent vote reflects a required shift back to the drawing board for wildlife management in 2024 as the Catalina Island Conservancy weighs its options for deer population control.
