The state has not yet made a decision on the fate of Catalina’s mule deer population.
Meanwhile, the Catalina Island Conservancy has scheduled an in-person and online community forum on the Catalina Island Restoration Project, which includes the proposed eradication of the Island’s mule dear.
The forum will be held 5:50 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 1 Casino Way and on Zoom. To register, visit the Conservancy website.
Online registration is required. According to the Conservancy website, walk-in registrations will not be accepted.
As most Islanders and many visitors know by now, the Catalina Island Conservancy sees the mule deer population as a threat to the Island’s ecosystem. To remove that threat, the Conservancy proposes to have sharpshooters on helicopters kill the Island’s entire mule deer population.
The Islander on Jan. 23 asked the Department of Fish and Wildlife if a decision had been made on the Catalina Island Conservancy’s proposal to remove (eradicate) the Island’s mule deer population. As previously reported, the decision belongs to Fish and Wildlife staff not the Fish and Game Commission.
The wildlife agency replied the same day.
“Nothing new at this time,” wrote Jordan Traverso, deputy director of Communications, Education and Outreach, for Fish and Wildlife.
As of 1:57 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 24, a Care2 petition at thepetitionsite.com (“This Island’s Deer Do Not Need To Be Slaughtered. Save Catalina Deer!”) has gathered 62,971 supporters.
Change.org petition to “Stop the Slaughter of Mule Deer on Catalina Island” has gathered 17,026 signatures.
The group that posted the change.org petition, the “Coalition Against the Slaughter of Catalina Deer,” has raised $15,625 at gofundme.
