It's hunting season: Nearly 200 deer in eastern Montreal park to be culled to curb overpopulation

This park on the eastern tip of the island of Montreal is overrun with deer, so next week the city will be culling the deer with the goal of shooting and killing nearly 200 of them. It's well done, it's as good as it gets given the budget and what what is what is possible we didn't see any deer out here in the forest today but experts say in recent years the population has been exploding according to provincial guidelines for a forest this size the ideal density is about five to seven deer per square kilometer but here there are more than 10 times that and experts say the forest can't sustain it reducing the population is important To maintain. The equilibrium in the ecosystem and for other animals. for the vegetation, for essentially, and we're part of the ecosystem, so that's important. All of a sudden, you're going to talk. The killing of deer in urban settings is sometimes controversial. A similar cull in Longueuil a few years ago was delayed several times because of protests and court challenges, but experts say such culls are unavoidable. It would be spectacular if we would decide to like prohibit hunting, for example, in Quebec for just two years. I mean, we would be, you would see virtually hundreds of these animals next to Highway 40 and 20 all the time. And that is actually dangerous. The hunt will unfold over two or three nights next week at a total cost of $350,000. The city's hired a company that will provide two shooters and several wildlife experts. Police will also be on site to make sure everything unfolds safely and that no one gets caught in the crossfire. And the park will be off-limits to students from a nearby private school next week as well. These professional hunters who are extremely accurate, they are like snipers in a way. The deer meat will go to local food banks. Now this isn't the first time that this happened here. The city killed more than 100 deer in this forest in a cull two years ago, but it wasn't enough. The population continues to grow, and that's why the city has to do this again.