Residents of Kelowna乌鸦传媒檚 Upper Mission are fighting back against what they say is an increasing deer population in the area.
Four residents have gathered more than 1,000 signatures on a petition calling for a deer cull.
Petition organizer Ken Walker moved to the area in the 1980s and said he has seen an increasing deer problem in the last four years.
乌鸦传媒淲e were hearing people from the Upper Mission were fed up,乌鸦传媒� he said, noting the deer have been destroying gardens and threatening people乌鸦传媒檚 animals.
乌鸦传媒淏efore you know you have no bush left, it乌鸦传媒檚 a bunch of sticks.乌鸦传媒�
The deer have grown so accustomed to being around people they乌鸦传媒檙e having babies in residents乌鸦传媒� backyards, he said.
乌鸦传媒淭hey乌鸦传媒檙e really domesticated animals.乌鸦传媒�
Walker believes there乌鸦传媒檚 no alternative way to control the population.
He referenced the City of Cranbrook, in January and early February and removed as many as 100 deer from the area.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e done nothing in the last four or five years and they乌鸦传媒檝e gotten worse and worse,乌鸦传媒� said Walker.
The petition will be brought to the city in the next few days.
Mayor Colin Basran said he hasn乌鸦传媒檛 heard about the petition and Kelowna hasn乌鸦传媒檛 had a deer cull in recent history.
There has been an increase in service requests for deer on private properties in the past few years, said parks services manager Blair Stewart, however the issue is not as large as Cranbrook乌鸦传媒檚.
But the number of complaints is increasing. In 2016 there were 29 requests, in 2015 there was six requests and in 2014 there were three, he said.
乌鸦传媒淚n the grand scheme of things compared to our service requests, it乌鸦传媒檚 low,乌鸦传媒� said Stewart.
The requests are also in certain locations in the city, mainly in the Mission, around Knox mountain and in other small pockets across town.
乌鸦传媒淲e really need to look at what the petition says and do some research,乌鸦传媒� said Stewart. 乌鸦传媒淲e have been trying to talk to the communities that have been dealing with something similar, but these other communities have had a lot more complaints and issues than we乌鸦传媒檝e had.乌鸦传媒�
He suggested another option; providing education to the public.
乌鸦传媒淎 cull doesn乌鸦传媒檛 get rid of the problem, which is the reason why the deer came here to begin with. It乌鸦传媒檚 an area where deer lived before houses were built and it乌鸦传媒檚 an area where they will still come back to in the future,乌鸦传媒� said Stewart.
乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 a lot of education that needs to happen with the public about planting and vegetation and there乌鸦传媒檚 a lot of things that need to change in order for this to be a long-term solution.乌鸦传媒�
