Montreal will spend nearly $300,000 this fall to cull 145 white-tailed deer in the Pointe-aux-Prairies and Bois-d’Anjou nature parks, 30% more than anticipated.
Last April, Valérie Plante’s administration announced its intention to move forward with a plan to reduce the deer population in two parks on the eastern part of the island, given the significant damage caused to vegetation. Based on the recommendations of a committee of experts made up of veterinarians and biologists, the City specified that some 140 animals would be shot by professional shooters.
The call for tenders launched last June generated mixed interest, with only one company submitting a bid. The proposal from 9103-7143 Québec Inc., a wildlife management company owned by François Pelletier, was, however, 31.3% higher than the price estimated by the City. “This type of intervention is new in Quebec, and the City of Montreal based its estimate on information provided by SEPAQ, which carried out a similar operation in 2023,” states a document released Wednesday by the City, which cites a “lack of experience and knowledge in this new area of expertise.”
Part of the difference is also attributable to a change to the tender to extend the duration of the intervention by one night, the document states.
On Wednesday, the executive committee will have to ratify the awarding of the contract at a total cost of nearly $296,000 for the slaughter of 145 deer by professional shooters, 125 in the Pointe-aux-Prairies nature park and about twenty in the Bois-d’Anjou nature park, which corresponds to a little over $2,000 per animal slaughtered. The contract provides for the preparation of the final intervention plan, the steps with the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks to obtain a permit for the capture of wild animals, the slaughter of the deer and the transport of the carcasses to the butchering centres. The period authorized by the ministry for this operation runs from October 23 to February 28, 2025, and the deer harvest will take place at night to minimize the impact on users of the nature parks, the City specifies.
In 2021, an expert report recommended the elimination of about fifty deer in the nature parks of the eastern part of the island, but the deer population has continued to grow since then, with a 253% increase in the number of deer. In two years, 86 car collisions with deer have also been counted.
The City of Longueuil also intends to cull deer at Michel-Chartrand Park. This case was at the heart of a legal challenge, but the Superior Court ultimately ruled in favor of the City.