Longueuil park reopens after deer cull

A Longueuil park re-opened to the public Thursday morning, two days after the suburb began a deer cull operation that was years in the making.

The gates to Michel-Chartrand Park were open 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 City of Longueuil, just south of Montreal, had been trying to carry out a cull since 2020. But 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 equilibrium 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 or so, the city says.

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

The city has repeatedly said the white-tailed deer are contributing to road accidents, increasing the risk of Lyme disease, travelling to nearby residential areas in search of food in addition to stripping vegetation in parks.

–With files from The Canadian Press