Protect Catalina’s Mule deer, demand the Catalina Island Conservancy and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife take part in honest public engagement and humane management.
The public deserve transparency, accountability, and humane wildlife stewardship — and the Conservancy’s Resource Management Plan (RMP) falls short on all three. The RMP’s language directly contradicts public assurances that aerial sharpshooting would not be used. Phrases like “aerial platforms for detection, pursuit, and dispatch” are functionally equivalent to authorizing helicopters to locate, pursue, and kill deer from the air. That is not a minor drafting error — it is a major change in tactics that raises serious ethical, safety, and public-trust concerns.
Before any approval is granted, the Conservancy and permit authorities must answer hard questions:
Are helicopters and other aerial platforms being authorized to find and kill deer? This contradicts prior public statements and must be clarified and corrected.
Who will carry out these operations? The RMP references White Buffalo, Inc., signaling that professional contractors will be hired to perform capture and lethal dispatch methods. The public should know the scope of contractor involvement and see detailed plans and oversight measures.
What are the animal welfare implications of capture methods listed as options? Net guns, bolt guns, drop nets and drive nets can cause severe stress, physical injury, and prolonged suffering. The RMP must detail safeguards, monitoring, and mitigation — or remove these options entirely.
What are the risks of using trained dogs to locate and force deer into kill zones? Employing dogs to chase and corner deer raises additional animal welfare and public-safety concerns that have not been adequately addressed.
Why is there an expansion in the range and intensity of lethal control tools beyond what was publicly presented? Any shift toward more aggressive, mechanized, or contractor-led killing requires renewed public review and clear justification.
Act now to protect Catalina’s deer and public trust
Demand that the Catalina Island Conservancy and California Department of Fish and wildlife:
Publicly retract or clarify any language that could authorize aerial pursuit or dispatch and explicitly rule out helicopter-based lethal operations.
Disclose full contracts and scopes of work for any third-party firms (including White Buffalo, Inc.) and require independent oversight and reporting.
Remove or strictly limit capture methods that risk injury and prolonged suffering (net guns, drop nets, drive nets) unless rigorous, transparent safeguards and welfare monitoring are in place.
Prohibit use of dogs to force deer into kill positions, or at minimum publish protocols, oversight, and consequences for welfare breaches.
Reopen meaningful public review so community members can assess whether the RMP aligns with prior public assurances and humane wildlife-management principles.