Letter to the Editor

In his election flyer, Mayor Wayne Stetski states he will “promote non-lethal deer management harvesting.” A harvested deer is a dead deer; Stekski is playing with words. He’s ignoring the city’s deer survey where 70% were in favour of a cull, which shows his appetite for listening to the people in a democratic way.

Wayne’s dynamic vision includes ignoring the mountains of scientific evidence. Hundreds of cities in the U.S. have tried translocation, and rigorous research utilizing radio collars has caused U.S. wildlife agencies to ban relocation as too cruel. Capture myopathy cripples 40-80%. Release city deer into predator country where they are unfamiliar with the roads, ravines, escape routes, and the rest are gone/sacrificed.

In the March 24 Advertiser Stetski stated: “Translocation of mule deer and whitetail deer have never been tried in B.C.”

Andrew Walker, a wildlife biologist for the B.C. government, explains why the province does not support translocation of deer:  “Although the non-lethal approach to urban deer management may appeal to the public as it appears to be an easy and humane solution, in reality the translocation process can be difficult, expensive, stressful to the deer and has resulted in high post-translocation mortality rates.” (Townsman, March 6)

This is not leadership on Mr. Stetski’s part. Catering to ignorance, that our deer are different from the deer in the U.S., is not what an informed citizen can vote for.

William G. Hills,

Cranbrook

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