Island Deer Killed to Protect Birds in Milford, CT
February 25, 2011
MilfordMirror.com: State officials recently destroyed about 17 deer they said were a threat to breeding colonies of herons and egrets on Charles Island. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), with Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society, removed the deer from Charles Island over the past week. DEP spokesman Dwayne Gardner said the deer, many of which were malnourished and in poor health, were shot and removed from the island.
State officials said the effort was aimed at protecting “Connecticut’s largest heron and egret breeding colonies,” called rookeries, which have been on the island a number of years.
“Management of deer on Charles Island is necessary to prevent the loss of nesting habitat used by great and snowy egrets, both state threatened species, and many other state-listed birds such as the glossy ibis,” the DEP said in a press release.
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