An urban deer problem

Photo: City of Penticton

The euthanasia of a family of four cougars this week has some in Penticton calling for something to be done about the city’s urban deer population.

The B.C. Conservation Service said the adult female cougar appeared to be teaching the three juveniles how to hunt easily targeted urban deer.

The City of Penticton considered a deer cull in 2012, eventually changing it into a relocation program with the Penticton Indian Band, but on this week's Mayor's Minute, Andrew Jakubeit said it never actually got off the ground.

“There was a changeover at the conservation office and we had to go back to square one. It’s the province's jurisdiction, they have a large set of rules around what you have to do to have a cull or to relocate the deer, so it's not as simple as it sounds.”

“And to some people, they are very cute and cuddly, and they get up in arms if you try to do anything about them,” Jakubeit said pointing to large lawsuits launched at Invermere over their deer cull program.

Minister of Environment Mary Polak acknowledged that human/wildlife conflicts are “becoming an increasing challenge.”

She says for now, the B.C. Conservation Service focuses on public outreach and education to attempt to prevent the conflicts from happening in the first place, adding they contact local governments to offer help on how to mitigate risks.

Polak said it’s actually up to local governments formulate a plan to control urban deer, plans that would then be subject to provincial approval.

“If we look at whats happened in other locations, probably the most well known would be in and around Oak Bay – that’s the local governments.”

The Oak Bay deer cull reduced the local population of deer by 11 over 16 days, but was met with fierce opposition and protests from animal rights groups.