Officials Are Fighting A Destructive Gang Of Deer That Dominated A Park Outside Montreal

A park in Longueuil, just across from Montreal, has seen an overwhelming influx of potentially trouble-making deer so the government is planning a "control operation" to take them down — which, sorry to all the animal-lovers out there, does indeed mean they're going to kill them.

But don't fret. In a happy holiday twist that every good deer overpopulation story needs, the meat will be donated to local food banks during the holiday season.

And the city said in a statement that the deer would be euthanized humanely, using standards set by the Comité d'éthique de l'utilisation des animaux. 

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The city [...] will soon intervene to carry out a spot check operation in order to reduce the number of deer. 

The City of Longueuil, in a statement published on November 10

According to the statement, Parc Michel-Chartrand's deer population has reached more than double the park's capacity in recent years. 

The overpopulation of deer leads to issues with land protection and "harmonious cohabitation," and also puts the species at risk, the city said. 

The potential effects of too many deer in Parc Michel-Chartrand, as listed by the city, are:

• Very weak regeneration of the forest
• Jeopardizes  future planting that counters pests
• Endangers animal and plant biodiversity
• Generates considerable costs for the property
• Increases the risk of road accidents and Lyme disease transmission
• Is detrimental to the health of the deer themselves

The city of Longueuil currently forbids its residents to feed deer or any other wild animals on its territory. Feeding the deer makes them dependent on an artificial food source and modifies their natural behaviour, the city said.

Dany Hétu, General Manager of Moisson Rive-Sud, thanked the city of Longueuil for its charitable donation. 

"As the holidays approach and with the current pandemic, more people are turning to food banks. This is why we are happy that the City of Longueuil thought of us in order to redistribute this meat to our beneficiaries," he said.