Deer increase day by day in Rock Creek Park… Counting the number of objects ‘impossible’
Environmental group: “Deer are members of the earth and should not be culled.”
In Washington DC, the capital of the United States, the deer population has rapidly increased, leading authorities to launch a ‘deer war’.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 2nd (local time), the population of white-tailed deer in Rock Creek Park in northern Washington DC is increasing day by day, causing concern to the local community.
Accordingly, the U.S. National Park Service has been culling deer since 2013. Authorities deployed a sniper team from the police SWAT team to the park. This is a measure to control the deer population and protect the forest.
Rock Creek Park is approximately 710,000 m2 in size, which is 24% of the area of Yeouido (2.9 million m2). Established in 1890, it is famous as a place that former President Theodore Roosevelt also enjoyed visiting.
Deer were first discovered here in the 1960s, and by the 1990s, their population had increased so rapidly that authorities had given up on counting them.
According to local media, deer, which were once on the verge of extinction, now number over 30 million across the United States. Deer mostly live in the eastern United States.
Deer are known to thrive in forested environments. Earl Hudnett, a former wildlife biologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), said, “The environment with no predators, little hunting, and abundant food caused this death.”
The USDA is reluctant to disclose specific deer hunting laws. Nick Bartolomeo, an official at Rock Creek Park, said, “We are preventing civilian access to deer hunting, which runs from November to the end of March every year,” and added, “We do not want our mission to be interrupted by the disclosure of information.”
This is because the opposition to killing deer in the United States is strong. Grunniwald, a former animal rights activist with the animal protection group HumaneSociety, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. federal government in 2012 to prevent the culling of deer.
“Deer should not be treated like weeds that need to be mowed every week,” Grunniwald said. “Deer are also valuable members of the earth.” He argued that non-lethal methods such as contraception should be used, but the authorities responded that it was ‘impossible’.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.