Deer overpopulation means tough choices in Quebec

Quebec's provincial parks society announced needs to cut the number of deer in two provincial parks near Montreal by at least 200 animals due to overpopulation.

White-tailed deer have flourished in Quebec in recent years, leaving governments and biologists struggling to find ways to control their numbers amid vocal opposition to mass culls.

After the City of Longueuil, Que., it’s the turn of Quebec’s provincial parks society to announce it needs to cut the number of deer in two provincial parks near Montreal by at least 200 animals due to overpopulation.

While it has yet to elaborate a plan to reduce the herd, the parks society noted that experts and scientists have strongly recommended using a “lethal method.”

“The significant impacts of overpopulation have been documented, not only on ecosystems, but also on public health and the livestock themselves: environmental degradation due to excessive grazing, scarcity of food for all species, increased risks of Lyme disease spread and traffic collisions, among others,” the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec wrote in an email.

The government estimates the number of deer in Quebec at 250,000, largely concentrated in the south of the province, where densities in some places can reach 15 animals per square kilometre — three times what’s considered “optimal,” the Wildlife Department said in an email.

Jean Fink, a biologist who has studied the white-tailed deer, said there are several reasons the animals become too numerous in some places. The biggest reason, he said, is warmer winters.

A tough, snowy winter can wipe out about 40 per cent of a herd through starvation, he said in an interview. But the milder winters of recent years, combined with a deer’s high reproduction rate, has allowed their numbers to surge.

He said the highest densities, and biggest problems, are found in protected areas and parks near big cities such as Montreal and Gatineau, where there are few natural predators such as coyotes and wolves, and where hunting isn’t allowed.