Point Pelee National Park will be temporarily shutting its gates to visitors later this year.
Parks Canada and Caldwell First Nation will be conducting a deer cull between November 24th and December 1st.
A second cull is slated to take place January 19-26, again closing the park to visitors.
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.
Officials estimate the current deer herd population is two to three times higher than is ideal. Parks Canada has been collaborating with Caldwell First Nation for a number of years to actively manage the deer population.
The deer reduction activity is part of the Hyperabundant Deer Management Program, which includes ecosystem monitoring, deer population monitoring, species at risk protection, ongoing research and collaboration, in efforts to reduce the white-tailed deer population to sustainable levels based on the goal to achieve ecological integrity – the health and wholeness of the environment and nature.