The Catalina Island Conservancy, in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, works through a Private Land Management program to maintain a balance between the population of deer and the wellbeing of Catalina Island.
The Catalina Island Conservancy, in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, works through a Private Land Management program to maintain a balance between the population of deer and the wellbeing of Catalina Island.
To curb the growth in the deer population, 60 percent of the 500 hunting tags issued will be for does during the 2014 hunting season. In previous years, the tags were evenly divided between does and bucks. The Conservancy conducts an annual census of the deer population and through an adaptive management plan works to protect and restore Catalina Island’s rare and endemic plant and animal species.
“Managing the number of deer on the Island is essential to Catalina’s ecological health and to the health of the deer population,” said John Mack, the Conservancy’s chief conservation and education officer. “Does usually give birth to twins, and they occasionally bear triplets. Increasing the number of does harvested will reduce the growth in the deer population and protect both the Island’s native species and the rest of the deer population.”
Nonnative animals introduced to the Island are a threat to Catalina’s rare, native and endemic vegetation, because the plants have lost the defenses of its mainland ancestors. Why waste energy producing toxins, spines and tough leaves if there’s no threat to life, limb – or stem? Before non-native herbivores were introduced, the Catalina California ground squirrel represented the largest threat to any plant. This endemic creature has a head the size of a walnut, for perspective. By contrast, big nonnative herbivores, like deer, are browsing machines.
The deer belong to the State of California and were brought to Catalina in the 1920s and 1930s by the Los Angeles County Forestry Department for the purpose of hunting. The expected hunting audience never really materialized, and the Black Jack Hunting Camp was abandoned after just four years of operation.
To make matters worse, deer have virtually no predators on the Island and not enough are hunted each year to keep the population in check.
So, the deer are on a population boom-and-bust cycle. That means the population is destined to get far too big, then crash, recover and do it all over again. This cycle is tough on deer and can devastate Catalina’s habitat. Deer browse every plant they can. Plant damage of this magnitude can have an impact on all of Catalina’s animal and plant species for years after the event.
Deer damage Catalina’s fragile ecosystems particularly when their population peaks, but the damage can be seen in most years. A close look at the native plants intended to restore habitats across the island and at the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden reveals that the second a plant grows outside its protective fence, it’s bitten back to a nub by the deer.
In Avalon, deer help themselves to gardens and food left outside for cats, a diet that’s unsuitable for their survival. Deer are herbivores, and food provided for cats and domestic animals contains ingredients that are potentially harmful to the deer. It is also important to note that it is illegal to feed deer and is a violation of state laws.
For information about hunting on Catalina Island call Wildlife West Inc. at (530) 519-4902.
