To ensure the long-term health of Point Pelee National Park’s sensitive ecosystems, Parks Canada and Caldwell First Nation will be conducting a deer population reduction in the park between January 19 and January 26, 2024, inclusive. Public safety is of the utmost importance to Parks Canada and therefore, Point Pelee National Park will be closed to visitors during this time. The park will reopen on January 27, 2024.
This year, Parks Canada and Caldwell First Nation decided that to ensure better success, the deer population reduction would take place in two parts. The first took place during November 2023. The park will close again from January 19-26, 2024, inclusive, for the second week of the operation.
Parks Canada is responsible for maintaining and restoring ecological health in national parks. Caldwell First Nation’s traditional territory encompasses the park. A high population (hyperabundance) of whitetailed deer in Point Pelee National Park is a serious threat to forest and savannah health and the species that depend on these habitats.
It is estimated that the current deer herd population is two to three times higher than what the ecosystem can support. Parks Canada has been collaborating with Caldwell First Nation for a number of years to actively manage the deer population in order to protect the park’s sensitive ecosystems.
The deer reduction is part of the Hyperabundant Deer Management Program, which includes ecosystem monitoring, deer population monitoring, species at risk protection, ongoing research and collaboration, in efforts to reduce the white-tailed deer population to sustainable levels based on the goal to achieve ecological integrity – the health and wholeness of the environment and nature.
- For more information including up-to-date information on park closures, please visit the park’s website at www.parkscanada.gc.ca/pelee, or contact Point Pelee National Park at pelee.info@pc.gc.ca or 519-322-2365.
- For information about hyperabundant species in Point Pelee National Park, please visit Hyperabundant species management – Point Pelee National Park (canada.ca)