How biologists plan to kill 2,000 deer on Catalina

Good morning, it’s Friday, April 3rd. Expect a good Good Friday — highs in the low 80s, a few clouds, some energetic winds in the Valley.

In today’s newsletter, a Santa Monica attack on a rock legend, arts students detained by the LAPD, and some things to do this weekend. But first, how a Connecticut contractor plans to eliminate two thousand deer on Catalina Island.

Mule deer were intentionally introduced to Catalina Island around 1930, when ten of the creatures were brought to the island to generate a population for hunting.

It worked. The offspring of those ten deer now number more than two thousand — all of which will be intentionally de-introduced starting later this year, when a program to kill the entire population is scheduled to begin.

The eradication plan is being advanced by the Catalina Island Conservancy, a nonprofit that owns 88% of Catalina Island. It’s an effort to restore the island’s native plant life, which did not evolve among populations of large herbivores and therefore has no defense against being eaten by them. The Conservancy says that the deer have already eliminated 48 plant species, and now must be eliminated themselves.

Recreational hunting, according to the Conservancy’s 1,000-page “Restoration Management Permit,” has not been successful at culling the herd. (The most successful deer elimination agent was drought, which reduced the population from 2,619 in 2012 to 1,227 in 2015).

So professional hunters are being called in. The Conservancy has signed a contract with White Buffalo, Inc., a Connecticut-based nonprofit that calls itself “the leading expert in population control of white-tailed deer.”

How exactly will White Buffalo be executing this contract? The permit outlines a multi-phase process. The first phase, scheduled to begin testing in September, involves luring deer to bait traps of cracked corn and watering stations, then “shooting from a vehicle.” “This stage of the deer removal process will be the most rapid depopulation,” the permit reports.

In later phases, White Buffalo will begin a “nocturnal ground shooting” campaign, using drones, detection dogs, and even helicopters to search out mule deer. By 2029, the company will deploy “sentinel deer,” which are captured and equipped with GPS trackers, to lead hunters back to what remains of the herd.

Asked what White Buffalo would be compensated for the project, the Conservancy told us “final costs are to be determined.” A rate sheet on the company’s website says that for sharpshooting, costs can range from “$200 to $400 per deer,” with the caveat that “processing is an additional $70-$125.”

What will be done with the dead animals? “Conservation and protection are the sole reasons for island restoration, and some remains will be utilized for the California Condor Project to help these endangered birds,” says a Conservancy spokesperson. (Condors are scavengers, meaning they feed exclusively on dead animals).

The Conservancy’s permit includes enthusiastic testimonials to White Buffalo’s work from scientific professionals. “I had the privilege of working alongside them, and no one can do it better,” said Robyn Shea, the Lead Research Station Specialist on Santa Rosa Island, where White Buffalo removed the entire Kaibab mule deer and Roosevelt elk population in 2011. “They are trained wildlife biologists; they are not mercenaries as many are depicting them to be.”

Among those opposing White Buffalo’s selection is the group Save the Catalina Island Deer,  a coalition formed to stop the deer elimination campaign. They’ve dedicated a page of their website to evidence of White Buffalo’s “horrendous practices,” contending that the company’s killing methods are “inhumane.”

A Conservancy spokesperson disputed that claim: “The approved methods follow humane protocols backed by extensive oversight and review, including a letter of support from the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians and review by CDFW's wildlife and veterinary programs prior to issuing the permit.”

"Habitat restoration and the well-being of Catalina Island, its residents, its visitors and the native ecosystems found nowhere else, guides everything we do,” said Conservancy Interim President and CEO David Solomon in an emailed statement. “Decades of scientific research has informed this plan and we are confident in both the science and the process behind the permit.”

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NOT THAT FUNNY: Lindsey Buckingham, longtime member of Fleetwood Mac, was “doused with an unknown substance” in Santa Monica last week by a woman law enforcement described as a stalking suspect, KTLA and others report. The suspect has not been publicly identified, but KTLA has interviewed a woman named Michelle Dick, who Buckingham has previously secured a restraining order against and who confirmed that she approached Buckingham last week. Dick claims that Buckingham is her biological father.

NO QUESTIONS ASKED: Boyle Heights Beat reports that seven students and two staff members from Boyle Heights Arts Conservancy’s Bridge Academy Movement program were detained by LAPD shortly before their graduation ceremony. The students had gone for coffee across the street from the academy when they were handcuffed on suspicion of being an “aggressive gang group,” according to LAPD.

SECOND HAND NEWS: The announcement of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s firing by President Trump came during a press conference held by Bill Essayli, a Trump loyalist and Bondi’s appointee as acting US Attorney for the Central District of California, until his appointment was found to be unlawful by a federal judge. (He assumed a new title — First Assistant US Attorney — though he is still the de facto leader of the office.) During the presser, which centered on hospice fraud, Fox 11 reporter Gigi Graciette asked for Essayli's reaction: "I don't know anything about that," Essayli said. "I've been up here with you."

WORLD TURNING: LAist reports that an agreement between the City of Los Angeles and LA28, the organizing committee for the 2028 Games, for how the city will be reimbursed for services delivered during the games is now six months late. Negotiations, led on the city side by Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso and City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, are still ongoing, but neither the city nor LA28 has offered an explanation for why a deal hasn’t been made.

I KNOW I’M NOT WRONG: A federal judge dismissed ten of the 13 claims in Blake Lively’s lawsuit against Justin Baldoni yesterday, including harassment, defamation, and conspiracy — offenses Lively alleges Baldoni committed during and after the production of the movie “It Ends With Us.” The judge allowed Lively’s claims of breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting in retaliation to move forward to trial, which is scheduled to begin in May.

PROVE YOUR LOVE: The annual Blessing of the Animals, held at Olvera Street on the Saturday before Easter since 1930, is tomorrow from 2 to 3 PM. Humans and animals of all faiths are welcome. Last year’s blessees included a dog wearing a sombrero, another dog wearing bunny ears, and another dog wearing a tuxedo vest and bowtie.

TUSK: Deerhoof and a couple dozen other indie musicians are performing all weekend at Open Melody, a festival hosted at 2220 Arts + Archives in Historic Filipinotown. Multiple acts (like Water Damage and Ben Lamar Gay Quartet) are making their LA debuts, and others (like Supercollider and Tussle) are performing for the first time in over a decade.

BLACK MAGIC WOMAN: For those looking for a non-traditional way to celebrate Easter weekend, promoters Lucha Goth Haus are hosting their lucha libre event “RESURRECTION” at Don Quixote in Boyle Heights on Saturday night. Along with performances from goth metal groups like Casa de Brujas, featured luchadors include Mecha Wolf, a robot-beast hybrid, and Ladyy Pink, a masked performer known as “the pink claw of lucha libre.”

GO YOUR OWN WAY: It’s going to be sunny with highs in the low 80s this weekend. Some outdoor adventures on offer: a Sierra Club moonlight hike, from Malaga Cove in Palos Verdes tonight at 7:30 PM, a Fern Dell hike hosted by social media community LA for the Culture, and a guided foraging event on Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM in Ladera Park with Jessica Lin, the “fruit princess” of L.A.

For today’s peek inside our subscriber-only Discord server, new member @Connor submits possibly the most shocking contribution to #vanityplates to date:

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