A Montreal suburb has received a provincial Environment Department permit to go ahead with a long-awaited white-tailed deer cull in a local park that has become overrun with them.
The City of Longueuil, just south of Montreal, has been trying to carry out a cull since 2020, but faced strong backlash and legal challenges from animal rights groups.
The permit is valid until mid-February 2025 and the city says in a statement the operation will be carried out by a professional company using air rifles.
The city says the cull is needed to restore ecological equilibrium to the green space as the number of white-tailed deer in Michel-Chartrand park has tripled in recent years — from 32 in 2017 to 114 as of this year.
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