Baltimore's Druid Hill Park closes overnight as sharpshooters manage deer population

Sharpshooters from the U.S. Department of Agriculture continue to shut down Baltimore parks overnight as part of the city's deer management program.

Druid Hill Park in Northwest Baltimore will be closed from 4 p.m. until 7 a.m. through April 9, as the sharpshooters kill the deer to reduce the population. 

The program will go through three Baltimore parks until April 15. Leakin Park was first, followed by Druid Hill Park, and ending with Herring Park in East Baltimore.

 Sharpshooters are using thermal imaging and bait sites to remove up to 271 white-tailed deer in Baltimore.

The meat harvested from this operation will be donated to the Maryland Food Bank and is estimated to create 40,000 meals.

Overpopulated deer in Baltimore

Baltimore officials say deer are overpopulated in the city.  They say the deer population in parts of the city can be more than 20 times higher than what is considered normal for a forested area.

Overall, the goal is to bring the deer population to 20 per square mile. 

"If you're able to bring it down to that 20 deer per square mile, and if you basically go hands off for a little while, you'll have an increase back in the population. So we have to do constant management," said Shane Boehne, the leader of the city's deer management program.

Environmental experts say the program will make the parks healthier as part of its effort to increase the tree canopy.

"In this era of rapid change, we want to have stable, resilient ecosystems, especially forested ecosystems," said Jerry Burges, the Johns Hopkins University Environmental Science and Studies Director. "They give us all sorts of services. But if you even value small things, like seeing a variety of birds, that's often an important thing for residents. In areas where we have really high deer densities, we see the disappearance of certain bird species."

Why sharpshooting?

Baltimore officials say sharpshooting is cost-effective and less disruptive to surrounding communities.

"The whole point of sharp shooting is to kill these deer on impact," Boehne said. "We don't want to spook, spook these deer and make them flee the area and go out into residential areas."