Euthanasia is the only solution to control the proliferation of white-tailed deer in Michel-Chartrand Park in Longueuil, concludes the report of the round table set up by the City in the wake of the controversy over their fate.
The document of about thirty pages, which Press obtained, also sounded the alarm on the advanced state of degradation of this green space and made some thirty recommendations to save it, many of which relate to deer.
“The only viable option in the short term to obtain lasting results is to proceed from 2022 to the reduction of the size of the herd by a method of capture and euthanasia in order to reach the support capacity of the park”, we can say. read in the report, which points out that the deer population has more than doubled in the past year.
From around thirty specimens last year, their population climbed to “more than 70”, according to the aerial inventory carried out in the spring, while the “support capacity” of the park calculated according to its area is between 10 and 15 deer.
White-tailed deer, in excess in the park, present a danger of spreading to park users of parasites, such as the blacklegged tick, a vector of the bacteria causing Lyme disease.
Extract from the report of the round table on ecological balance and the preservation of Michel-Chartrand park
In order to prevent their population from leaping again after the reduction of the herd, other measures should be considered, estimates the round table, referring to surgical sterilization and increased hunting in peripheral sectors, such as woodlands. du Tremblay.
The committee did not choose the option of relocating the deer, “for several reasons”, including the high risk of mortality and the stress created for the animals.
It is therefore a return to square one, a year after the controversy raised by Longueuil’s decision to slaughter some of the deer in the park, which had degenerated to the point where the mayor at the time received death threats. and which had led to the establishment of this “round table on ecological balance and the preservation of Michel-Chartrand Park”, made up of experts, community organizations and citizens.
The new mayor, Catherine Fournier, had committed during the election campaign to respect the recommendations of the concertation table.
Another problem: humans
In addition to the overpopulation of white-tailed deer, the Michel-Chartrand park is grappling with multiple problems, the combined effects of which “today threaten the ecological balance of the park”, worries the round table, which underlines the need for simultaneous actions.
The report mentions “the devastating effects of the emerald ash borer on the forest” and the spread of invasive alien species, a problem that is compounded by the presence of deer, who do not graze them and prefer native plants to them.
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, PRESS ARCHIVES
Informative poster installed at Parc Michel-Chartrand
But humans who visit the park – whose attendance has increased significantly since the start of the pandemic – also bear some of the responsibility, the report notes.
Walking off marked trails, which deteriorates the forest, and feeding wild animals, however, are behaviors with significant consequences.
Natural environments […] are degraded to the point that they can no longer regenerate.
Extract from the report of the round table on ecological balance and the preservation of Michel-Chartrand park
Overabundance of geese
Parc Michel-Chartrand is also faced with an overabundance of Canada geese, a bird that consumes nearly 4 kg of plants and generates up to 0.9 kg of faeces daily, notes the report, which notes health problems. in several sectors of the park, in particular that of the three lakes.
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, PRESS ARCHIVES
The growing population of geese also has an impact on the ecological balance of Michel-Chartrand Park.
As geese “fiercely defend their nesting sites,” their increasing numbers increase the risk of injury to park users, especially young children, the report warns.
The round table also recommends that the City continue its program of scaring geese and sterilizing their eggs, which gives good results, but stresses that the participation of the neighboring golf course Le Parcours du Cerf would increase its effectiveness. .
Control of invasive vegetation, such as buckthorn, Japanese knotweed and warbler, as well as white-tailed deer and Canada geese, “is a prerequisite. without it none to the restoration of the park’s ecological balance ”, estimates the round table.
An unrecognized vocation
The round table recommends reviewing the mode of governance of Parc Michel-Chartrand, deploring the fact that its conservation vocation “is not clearly recognized and affirmed by the City of Longueuil”. Its grievances are numerous: responsibilities distributed between several municipal services with different missions and objectives, a conservation plan dating from 2008 and which is slow to be updated, authorized uses incompatible with a vocation for the conservation of natural environments, etc. The committee calls on the City to make the population aware of the ecological value of the park, the threats to which it is subjected and the importance of intervening quickly and in a sustainable manner to preserve it.
1 to 3: number of fawns that a female deer can produce each year, which is fertile in her first year of life
13 : number of meetings held by the round table on ecological balance and the preservation of Michel-Chartrand park
Source: report of the round table on ecological balance and the preservation of Michel-Chartrand park