An animal protection group has slammed a California wildlife-approved plan to eradicate mule deer from Santa Catalina Island, calling it “state-sanctioned slaughter.”
In Defense of Animals, an international animal protection organization based in Marin County, California, expressed “profound outrage and sorrow” in a statement following the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) decision to approve the Catalina Island Conservancy’s “deadly, controversial, and unpopular plan” to remove the entire mule deer population from the island.
The eradication of the deer is part of the Catalina Island Conservancy’s restoration efforts to protect the island, remove invasive species, including mule deer, and restore natural habitat.
The department’s decision follows public opposition and a previous victory that forced the abandonment of a helicopter-gunning plan.
The wildlife department’s decision ignores the pleas of thousands of residents and the objections of Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, In Defense of Animals said in the statement.
The decision also disregards the caution of Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone, who said that removing the deer could heighten fire risks by allowing vegetation fuel loads to grow unchecked, contradicting the Conservancy’s initial justification for the removal of the ungulates, the group said.
Characterizing the wildlife’s decision as a “betrayal of public trust,” Lisa Levinson, Campaigns Director for In Defense of Animals, said the Conservancy has “rebranded a massacre as restoration.”
Mule deer, a non-native species, were introduced to Catalina Island by the state in the 1930s as a game species for hunting, according to the Conservancy. It says the deer feed on endemic vegetation and prefer these plants over invasive plant species.
Since they have no natural predators, their population grows unchecked, ranging from 500 to over 1,800 animals depending on the amount of rainfall, the Conservancy said.
Living on the island for more than a hundred years, mule deer have integrated into the ecosystem, In Defense of Animals argued.
Despite this, the Conservancy has been allowed to kill the deer over several years, beginning with a fenced “pilot zone” of 10 acres near the Airport in the Sky, before expanding to a 105-acre zone and eventually the entire island, the group said.
“Scapegoating them (the deer) for climate change and drought-driven vegetation loss is scientifically dishonest,” said Jack Gescheidt, Wildlife Consultant for In Defense of Animals.
In Defense of Animals blamed the Conservancy for making “wild, inaccurate” estimates of the deer population to justify the eradication. The Conservancy’s estimate of 1,700 to 2,000 ungulates was based on a 2021 spotlight survey that extrapolated data from a small subset to the whole island, the group said.
According to island residents, the deer population is between 400 and 800, the group said.
Aiming to protect the wild mule deer from hunting or sterilization efforts, In Defense of Animals and its supporters had in 2023 written to the wildlife department and Governor Gavin Newsom asking them to oppose the plan.
Catalina Island Conservancy’s Plan
On January 30, 2026, the Conservancy announced that the wildlife department had approved its restoration management permit, “clearing the final hurdle for long-planned work to restore native habitats, protect freshwater resources, and reduce the risk of more frequent wildfires” across the island.
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The permit is part of Operation Protect Catalina Island and follows years of public engagement, including meetings, and 63 letters of support from community members, stakeholders, and conservation partners, including the Gabrieleno-Tongva tribal community, the Conservancy said.
According to the Conservancy, invasive annual grass dominates 35% of the island’s ecosystems, which is accelerated by mule deer eating native vegetation. This results in slow recovery of the ecosystem and enables invasive grass to spread.
“Catalina Island can have either a functional, biodiverse and resilient ecosystem or it can have deer. It cannot have both,” said Scott Morrison, director of conservation and science for The Nature Conservancy in California.
Under the permit, “trained, ground-based professionals” will conduct “lethal deer removal, which will occur over several years,” the Conservancy said in the statement.
Harvested meat will be provided to the California Condor Recovery Program to support a natural food source for these endangered birds.
A locals-only recreational hunting season will conclude the deer eradication plan in fall 2026.
Perfect job for ICE.
It’s going to make a few people cry, but getting rid of deer and other introduced species on any and all of the Channel Islands makes perfect sense. They sell tissues in lots of stores.
Basic, the only person crying around here is you. You are a perpetual victim and smarmy conservative mansplainer.