Home 99.1 News Point Pelee National Park Closing For Deer Population Control

Point Pelee National Park Closing For Deer Population Control

Image by Rainhard Wiesinger from Pixabay

Point Pelee National Park will be shutting its gates to visitors.

Parks Canada and Caldwell First Nation will be conducting a deer cull between January 5th and the 20th.

A high population of white-tailed deer is considered a serious threat to forest and savannah health, and the annual reduction will help ensure the long-term health of the park’s sensitive ecosystem.

Through over-browsing, the deer in the park are consuming and damaging native plants faster than they can regenerate, and threatening the health of the Carolinian Forest, which is home to a number of species at risk such as the Red Mulberry Tree, Eastern Wood-Pewee and Eastern Foxsnake. Deer are also jeopardizing efforts to restore the Lake Erie Sand Spit Savannah, a globally rare ecosystem that supports 25% of the species at risk in the park, including the Five-lined Skink.

Park officials say the ideal number of deer in the area is between 24 and 32, but with a series of mild winters and a lack of natural predators has allowed the population to grow to twice that amount.

Point Pelee National Park is slated to reopen to visitors on January 21st.