Although it has been aware for several years of the negative effects of white-tailed deer overpopulations on the ecosystems of Mont-Saint-Bruno and Îles-de-Boucherville national parks, SEPAQ still does not have a control strategy deer. The slaughter of deer has already been mentioned, according to information obtained by The duty, but the Longueuil saga would have upset the plans of the state company.
According to data provided by the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks (MFFP), in 2021 there were a total of 161 white-tailed deer in Mont-Saint-Bruno National Park, a density three times higher than ecosystem capacity. In the case of Parc national des Îles-de-Boucherville, there were 299 deer, six times the desirable density.
In concrete terms, there are at least a hundred white-tailed deer too many in Parc national du Mont-Saint-Bruno and more than 250 too many in Parc national du Mont-Saint-Bruno. Boucherville Islands. And in both cases, the herd has increased significantly in recent years.
The Society of Outdoor Establishments of Quebec (SEPAQ) is also well aware of overcrowding and its effects, and has been “for several years”, admits the director of the two parks, Cédric Landuydt. “We will have to intervene” in a “moderately close” horizon, he adds, without further details.
Mr. Landuydt is not in a position to advance on the solution that could be implemented to tackle the problem. For this, it relies on a possible “recommendation” from a regional “committee” comprising the SEPAQ, the MFFP and other stakeholders. “We discuss, we look and we move forward to allow us to see how we are going to be able to solve this regional problem”, he argues, inviting The duty to communicate with the MFFP, which coordinates the committee.
However, the ministry affirms that the responsibility to act in this file lies with the SEPAQ. “If you want to know more about the means that will be used for the management of deer in national parks, you can contact SEPAQ, which is responsible for the adaptive management of ecosystems in national parks, in which the control of a harmful or overabundant species”, explains the MFFP by email. The ministry also points out that it “advocates” controlled hunting, such as that planned for Michel-Chartrand Park in Longueuil, as a means of managing white-tailed deer. “This form of hunting is safe because it allows control of all the parameters. Controlled hunting is recognized for its effectiveness and is used in many states and provinces in North America.
Longueuil Saga
After the Longueuil deer saga, is SEPAQ worried about embarking on a deer culling project in the two national parks? “Whatever the decision, we want to make sure it’s the right decision. Is social acceptability part of the solution? Yes. But that doesn’t mean you have to act. You have to act cautiously and with the right method,” replies Cédric Landuydt.
The duty obtained a copy of a presentation by experts from the MFFP at Parc national du Mont-Saint-Bruno, in June 2017, which already directly mentioned the relevance of conducting a “controlled hunt”. By e-mail, the SEPAQ affirms, however, that it has never submitted a request for a wildlife management permit to the MFFP for the Mont-Saint-Bruno and Îles-de-Boucherville national parks.
Despite an access to information request, the state corporation has also refused to transmit emails or documents that refer to the management of white-tailed deer or a possible controlled hunting project. SEPAQ only retransmitted, in its response, the emails responding to questions from the Duty, sent in December.
Controlled hunting
The former municipal councilor of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Marilou Alarie, ensures for her part that the idea of conducting a controlled hunt was clearly mentioned in the case of the two national parks. A first intervention was even to be carried out at Parc national des Îles-de-Boucherville in 2021, due to the fallout from the significant overpopulation of deer. A person who took part in meetings about the management of the two parks also indicated that controlled hunting was clearly mentioned as a method of control.
According to Mme Alarie, the outcry raised by the deer slaughter project at Michel-Chartrand Park, in Longueuil, would have upset the plans of the SEPAQ. In the case of Longueuil, the City plans to kill around 60 deer, whereas it would be necessary to kill around 350 in the Mont-Saint-Bruno and Îles-de-Boucherville parks. By way of comparison, 48,424 deer were killed in Quebec in 2020, as part of sport hunting. Between 2015 and 2020, more than 300,000 white-tailed deer were killed in the province.
If deer populations are not controlled by hunting or predation, they can pose a serious threat to ecosystems. “When deer are overabundant, they jeopardize the biodiversity of the fauna and flora of ecosystems by their excessive browsing of vegetation”, argues the MFFP. Plants, shrubs and trees, which also serve as habitat for other wildlife species, “can hardly regenerate as a result of excessive browsing by deer”.