While the City of Longueuil still cannot kill a few dozen white-tailed deer to protect the ecosystem of Michel-Chartrand Park, the hunt for this species of deer was a great “success” in Quebec last year, with more than 55,000 animals killed.
According to data released Wednesday by the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP), a total of 55,318 animals were slaughtered in the province in 2022, an increase of 17 % compared to the 2021 hunting season. However, these statistics do not take into account the deer hunted on Anticosti Island, since the data is not yet available.
“Game was particularly abundant, a sign that deer populations are doing very well,” the ministry said in a statement. Across all of the “zones” defined by the government, “the harvest success rate has remained stable or increased” compared to 2021. In the “08 North” zone, which covers a large region around Montreal, including Longueuil, the department has accounted for 3,094 deer killed by hunters.
“The excellent harvest observed in all areas in 2022 can be attributed in large part to the fact that Quebec has not experienced a very harsh winter for deer since 2019 in the majority of hunting areas, which favored its survival”, explained the MELCCFP.
Excluding Anticosti Island, for which there are specific hunting licenses and conditions, more than 133,000 hunters obtained a white-tailed deer hunting license in 2022.
Longueuil on hold
Meanwhile, the City of Longueuil once again had to postpone its controlled white-tailed deer hunting project in Michel-Chartrand Park. The park would have a little over 100 deer, while the ecosystem would be able to accommodate between 10 and 15 animals.
The Court of Appeal of Quebec granted in December a reprieve to opponents of the hunt. In their decision, the judges of the Court of Appeal then ordered the City to suspend the deer culling operation until the case could be heard on the merits by the Superior Court, from 24 to 26 next April.
The Court of Appeal thus ruled in favor of the SPCA and the organization Sauvetage Animal Rescue, represented by Mr.e Anne-France Goldwater, who had been refused a reprieve by the Superior Court on October 4. The Court of Appeal considers that the trial judge erred in his analysis of the inconvenience suffered by the City in the event of a stay.
In July 2022, the City of Longueuil announced its intention to carry out the culling in the fall, after having postponed the project several times since the fall of 2020. Since the beginning of the deer saga in Michel-Chartrand Park , at least 158,504 white-tailed deer were hunted in Quebec as part of government-authorized sport hunting.
Longueuil is not the only sector where the herd of white-tailed deer represents a risk for the ecosystems, since two national parks in the Montreal region are facing the same problem, has already revealed The duty. In Parc des Îles-de-Boucherville, the density of deer is 30 animals per km2, which represents 250 deer too many. As for the Mont-Saint-Bruno park, the density is 15 animals per km2, an excess of at least 100 animals. To reduce livestock so as to preserve biodiversity in these two protected environments, which is part of SEPAQ’s mission, it would therefore be necessary to slaughter 350 animals.