Catalina Island proposes professional hunting to eliminate deer population

Catalina Island has proposed a plan to have professional hunters eliminate its deer population.

Last year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously rejected the Catalina Island Conservancy's project to have sharpshooters fly around the island in a helicopter and kill the deer. 

"Though most effective, we removed this method based on community feedback and shifted to ground-based professionals," Catalina Island Conservancy wrote on its website.

According to the conservancy, the invasive mule deer were brought to the island roughly a 100 years ago. They claim the deer heighten fire danger by grazing on the native plant life, which allows highly flammable grass to spread through the island.  

"This dry, fast-burning fuel leads to hotter, more frequent and destructive fires, which in turn allow even more invasives to take hold," the conservancy wrote. "This self-reinforcing pattern is known as a positive feedback loop, and the longer it continues, the harder it becomes to stop.️‍"

The Los Angeles County Fire Department disputed the conservancy's claim that deer increase the fire hazard but mitigate risk by consuming vegetation, according to Supervisor Janice Hahn. 

Hahn, who represents Catalina Island, expressed her strong opposition to the proposal and called for the Department of Fish and Wildlife to reject the application. 

"While I appreciate that they have abandoned the idea of aerial sharpshooting, this revised plan—to bring in professional hunters to systematically slaughter the deer over the next five years—still represents a drastic and inhumane approach that ignores the values of many Catalina residents and visitors," she wrote. 

The Catalina Island Conservancy said they have explored every option, including: recreational hunting, fencing, introducing predators, relocation and sterilization/contraception. The organization said its staff "carefully considered" all of its options but ultimately determined that professional hunting would be the best solution.

"All decisions reflect science, animal welfare and ecosystem integrity," the conservancy wrote.