A plan to remove all deer from Catalina Island will move forward, organizers say

Catalina Island, a popular tourist destination off the coast of Los Angeles, is home to about 2,000 deer that many people love to watch roam its hills and streets. But soon, those deer will all be gone. The Catalina Island Conservancy, a nonprofit group that owns most of the island, announced Tuesday that it will begin a multi-year plan to remove nearly all of the deer. The group says the deer are harming the island's native plants and making it much more likely to burn in a wildfire.

A judge in Los Angeles County issued a tentative ruling on Tuesday that allows the project to move forward. The ruling rejected a request by opponents of the plan to stop it. After a court hearing, the conservancy said it would go ahead and kill the first 200 deer before the end of October. The judge's final decision on the case is expected within 90 days.

The deer on Catalina, called mule deer, are not native to the island. About a century ago, a few dozen mule deer were brought to Catalina from California forests. People thought they would be good for hunting. Over time, their numbers grew to nearly 2,000. Now, scientists say the deer are causing serious damage by eating native, fire-resistant plants. Without those plants, the island becomes covered in dry grasses that catch fire easily, putting the entire ecosystem at risk.

Catalina is sometimes called 'North America's Galápagos' because it is home to so many unique species. The island has 60 plants and animals that exist nowhere else on Earth. Scientists worry that if wildfires get worse — like the one that destroyed a large area of Maui, Hawaii, in 2023 — many of those rare species could be lost forever. Protecting those species is one of the main reasons the conservancy wants to remove the deer.

Not everyone agrees with the plan. A group of animal advocates, local residents, and hunters sued the conservancy and the state to try to stop it. Janice Hahn, a Los Angeles County supervisor who represents the island, wrote a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom asking him to take away the permit that allows the conservancy to kill the deer. She called the plan 'an extreme, unnecessary response.' Newsom's office passed her request along to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which declined to comment.

The conservancy says it looked at other options before deciding to kill the deer. Moving the deer off the island is unlikely to work, because deer often go into shock and die from the stress of being captured. When deer were moved from Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, 85% died within the first year. Sterilizing thousands of deer on the island would also be very difficult, and it would take many years for the native plants to grow back. Killing the deer, officials say, is the most effective solution.

The conservancy changed its original plan after getting a lot of pushback from the public. In 2023, it had planned to shoot all the deer from helicopters in just seven weeks. The new plan spreads the effort over at least five years. This fall, the conservancy will test methods like bait stations filled with cracked corn and watering spots to attract the deer. Sharpshooters will then use rifles to kill about 200 deer, and residents will also get a final chance to hunt the deer between October and December.

In the coming years, the conservancy plans to use more advanced technology. Nighttime shooting with heat-sensing cameras, drones, and trained detection dogs will help find any remaining deer. A small number of deer that live in the town of Avalon, which has about 3,300 people, will be sterilized instead of killed. Meat from the deer that are killed will be donated to a California condor recovery program or to Native American tribal partners. Pepe Barton, a spokesperson for the conservancy, said he understands the sadness people feel, but believes protecting the island is worth it.