Point Pelee National Park will be closed to visitors beginning Thursday to hold another deer cull.
The park is expected to reopen Jan. 23.
Parks Canada and the Caldwell First Nation will be conducting the deer cull for the third consecutive year following a pause after a 2009 cull.
Eighty-four deer were counted during an aerial survey on Dec. 16. Parks Canada says the small park can support 24 to 32 deer, based on decades of research and monitoring.
The white-tailed deer, which no longer have natural predators in the park, are considered a serious threat to forest and savannah ecosystems at the park.
The munching deer are jeopardizing park plans to restore the Lake Erie Sandspit Savannah, a globally rare ecosystem that supports 25 per cent of the species at risk in the park, a Parks Canada release said Tuesday.
Last year, 41 deer were shot and in 2015, 72 deer were shot in culls. Parks Canada said it could take a few years to get the deer population down to its desired target.
Visitors can contact the park for more information at pelee.info@pc.gc.ca or 519-322-2365. For updated information on park closures, visit the Parks Canada website at www.pc.gc.ca/pelee.
