National Park Service Begins Extermination of
Point Reyes Deer
Sharpshooters kill more than 80 White Fallow and Spotted Axis Deer in park
Since the National Park Service (NPS) first announced their intention to exterminate all the non-native White Fallow and Spotted Axis Deer from Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, Calif., IDA has actively opposed the plan. As a key member of the Point Reyes Deer Coalition, we have written letters to NPS officials and state legislators, held demonstrations at the park where we educated visitors about the lethal plan, and exposed the NPS's specious claims of environmental damage being caused by the deer. Yet, despite a groundswell of public outrage and Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey's objections, the NPS chose to go ahead with the controversial massacre.
The killing started in June 2007 when NPS brought in a Connecticut-based company called White Buffalo, Inc., using $750,000 in taxpayer's money, to shoot the deer. One of White Buffalo's key "management" methods is "remote euthanasia" -- a euphemism for sharpshooting that sounds humane, but isn't. These hired guns spread corn on the ground to attract the deer, then killed more than 80 of the animals (starting with the White Fallow Deer) by shooting them in their heads or necks.
Or so they claim. In August, recreational hunters discovered the carcasses of several deer shot in the body and left to rot for days, their eyes eaten from their sockets by vultures. With doubts being raised about their sharpshooters' accuracy, White Buffalo categorically denied responsibility for the killings. After initiating a forensic investigation to determine who killed the deer, park officials temporarily suspended the extermination project, which they plan to resume next summer with the ultimate aim of exterminating the entire herd by 2021.
In addition to spending time on sharpshooting detail, White Buffalo staff also injected another 80 female deer with a contraceptive called GonaCon, then tagged the animals and fitted them with radio collars that enable tracking. The company will recapture the deer next year to see whether this method effectively prevented them from breeding. It is because of the efforts of IDA and other animal protection groups that contraception is even being attempted: if left to do as they please, NPS would probably have already shot and killed every last deer.
The beautiful White Fallow and Spotted Axis Deer have lived at Point Reyes National Seashore for more than half a century, delighting visitors and residents alike. NPS defends their hasty extermination of all the Fallow and Axis Deer by claiming that they are harming the environment and taking food from native Black-tailed Deer, yet they have so far presented no scientific documentation to support this claim. IDA will continue to fight eradication of the deer, and promote humane management of the herd through a 100% non-lethal contraception program.
What You Can Do
1) Write a letter to the editor of the Marin Independent Journal advocating the humane, non-lethal management of the Fallow and Axis Deer at Point Reyes National Seashore. Visit Marine IJ website for submission guidelines and instructions.
2) If you live in or will be visiting the San Francisco Bay Area this month, please join us at the park for a rally to save the deer. Let Park officials know that their tactics are inhumane by making your voice heard!
What: Save the White Deer Rally
When: Sunday, September 9th, 2007 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Where: 2350 Bear Valley Road, Point Reyes Station, Calif. ( map )
Bring food, drink, and your own sign. Call Trinka Marris at (415) 663-5420 for more information or to RSVP.