Plan to use helicopter-based sharpshooters to kill Catalina deer faces county objections

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 23, strongly opposed a plan to use aerial sharpshooters from helicopters to kill all black-tailed deer on Catalina Island.

The controversial plan proposed by the Catalina Island Conservancy aims to eliminate up to 2,000 deer on the island, which the conservancy says are destroying the island’s native flora and fauna and damaging the entire ecosystem.

“The elimination of more than 1,770 black-tailed deer on Catalina Island through aerial shooting from helicopters is inhumane, extreme, and potentially dangerous to the public,” concluded a motion passed by the board on a unanimous vote.

Supervisors recommend that sanctuaries try other, less drastic methods to reduce deer populations, such as mass neutering or sterilization, relocation and expanding the deer hunting season. The commission’s objections to aerial kills and a request to try alternatives will be included in the commission’s letter to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).

A permit to implement the program was submitted to CDFW in August 2023 and is currently under review. “Nothing has been approved yet,” CDFW spokesman Tim Daly said Tuesday. He did not comment further on the status of the permits.

District 4 Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes Catalina Island and an author of the motion, said her office received about 500 calls and emails, most of them opposed to the deer eradication plan. Hahn said 90,000 signatures have been collected opposing the plan, with more than 70,000 coming from the Care2 online petition.

Hahn hopes CDFW denies the permit and then the conservation agency will be forced to make compromises to “better palatable to the public.”

But the conservancy says no other options are feasible.

Lauren Dennhardt, senior director of the Catalina Island Conservancy, said the island is home to 60 unique species of plants and animals that are threatened by black-tailed deer. “Unless we act now, we may face irreversible consequences,” she told the board.

Black-tailed deer munch on a selection of plants unique to the island. Once these are eaten down to stubs, they will not grow back. Instead, invasive species that are more prone to fire move in.

The reserve plans a two-year ecosystem restoration using native plant seeds. But that won’t work if deer are present, Denhart said.

“In my opinion, this project is critical to Catalina Island’s climate resiliency,” she said. She added that as a biologist she would be hard-pressed to see the deer being wiped out, but said it’s either the deer or the island’s ecosystem. Julie Benson, also with the Nature Conservancy, said they received 24 letters of support from other organizations.

It will take six to seven weeks for helicopter snipers to shoot the deer, and the shooting will be inside the island, away from crowds. Denhart said aerial shooting has been used on Maui to reduce the deer population there.

Winston Vickers, a wildlife veterinarian who has done research on the island, said shooting the deer is the most humane way to eliminate the herd. He supports this approach, which is used on islands around the world.

“It’s scientifically proven that they (deer) are very harmful to the island and its ecology,” Vickers said.

Many island residents say they don’t want the deer killed. Some say deer are part of the island’s culture, popular with visiting children, and are not a detriment but a benefit.

Diane Stone, a representative for the Catalina Island Humane Society, called the planned aerial shooting “cruel, inhumane, unnecessary and dangerous,” adding, “Milote deer are an integral part of our island landscape and part of the legacy.

The deer were brought to the island for hunting about 100 years ago. They have become a tourist attraction on the island, just like the Catalina Island bison and the island’s foxes.

Rick Travis, who spoke on behalf of the group, said the California Rifle and Pistol Association does not support eradicating the activity. He said the hunting community and animal rights groups had united to oppose the plan.

Some islanders remember the shooting of goats from the air, which they say traumatized residents.

Brie Broussard, the owner of an Avalon business, said tourists who learned about the planned killings were upset and had expressed displeasure. “They turned away in disgust, and many vowed not to return to our island,” she said.