Longueuil Park Reopens After Cull of 64 Deer

A Longueuil park reopened to the public Thursday morning, two days after the suburb began a deer cull operation that reduced the deer population in the park by 64. The cull took place between October 22 and 24.

The gates to Michel-Chartrand Park opened at 6 a.m.

On Tuesday, hunters armed with air rifles began the operation to reduce the herd size of white-tailed deer that had overrun the park in recent years.

The municipality explained in a press release that the “Generous Hunters of the Quebec Federation of Hunters and Fishermen” program will allow for the redistribution of the game meat collected at Moisson Rive-Sud for people in need by the end of the year.

The City of Longueuil, just south of Montreal, had been trying to carry out a cull since 2020. However, officials faced strong backlash and legal challenges from animal rights groups over the fate of the deer.

Longueuil officials have long said the cull was needed to restore ecological balance to the green space, as the number of deer tripled in recent years—from 32 in 2017 to 114 in 2024. Michel-Chartrand Park is only suitable for about 15 deer, the city says.

Longueuil indicated that other operations of this kind will take place between now and February 15 to reach its objective of five deer per square kilometer.

The Montreal suburb has considered other options, including sterilization, birth control, or even transporting the deer to a refuge, but experts ultimately concluded that the only viable short-term solution was to cull the animals.

The city has repeatedly stated that the white-tailed deer contribute to road accidents, increase the risk of Lyme disease, and travel to nearby residential areas in search of food, in addition to stripping vegetation in parks.

A new research project, in which the city is participating, will document the movements of white-tailed deer on the territory and evaluate long-term population control measures, including sterilization. The first results of the project should be available by the end of next year.

In addition to controlling the deer population, the City of Longueuil is carrying out other operations to restore ecological balance within the park by enhancing its reforestation efforts.