After Legal Battles, Catalina Island Deer Eradication Process Is Underway

The twisting, controversial tale of the will they or won’t they eliminate Catalina Island’s beloved but also invasive mule deer population is now underway, per the Los Angeles Times:

Pepe Barton, the conservancy’s director of communications, confirmed that work had begun this week, shortly after legal challenges to stop the culling were shot down. …

These hunters, a unit of up to a dozen trained professionals employing rifles and bound by state regulations, are expected to kill the island’s non-native mule deer on the ground over four to five years.

About 200 deer are anticipated to be killed from September through October. The culling is part of an opening phase that will test whether any other tools, methods or equipment are needed when crews expand the process next year, Barton told The Times earlier this month.