Point Pelee to close for two-week deer cull

The white-tailed deer population at Point Pelee National Park is three to four times higher than the park can sustain, so staff and members of the Caldwell First Nation will be taking two weeks to try and reduce it.

The park will be closed from Jan. 12-26 for a deer cull.

• Point Pelee National Park to close for deer cull

• 100 deer to be culled at Point Pelee National Park

"Hyperabundant white-tailed deer are a serious threat to forest and savannah ecosystems at Point Pelee National Park," reads a statement from Parks Canada, adding the government agency has a responsibility to maintain "ecological integrity" at national parks.

Lots of food and no natural predators

The deer population at the park is estimated at 103 animals, up from 84 last year, thanks in part to the abundance of food and lack of predators at Pelee.

"Based on over 30 years of research and monitoring, a healthy balanced ecosystem at Point Pelee National Park would ideally support 24 to 32 deer," added the agency.

• Does Windsor need a deer cull?

Heavy browsing by deer is "threatening" the health of the park's Carolinian forest and "jeopardizing" efforts to restore the Lake Erie Sandspit Savannah, which supports 25 per cent of Point Pelee's species at risk.