Nabhraj Spogliarich (Humans not superior, letters March 12) and others opposed to culling deer totally misunderstand the realities of the situation. There is nothing natural about the number of deer in Oak Bay and other B.C. communities. The number of deer is far above the normal sustainable level, mainly because we have essentially eliminated their predators from municipal areas.
Therefore, since we do not want to reintroduce those predators to our communities, we have an ethical responsibility to act in their place as predator for deer.
The first thing we need to do is to have a one-time large cull – much larger than the proposed cull of 25 deer in Oak Bay – to bring the number of deer down to a more natural level.
Following that, we need to have a small cull every year to maintain the number of deer at that low sustainable level. Optimally, the deer would then recognise us as a predator and develop the normal avoidance behaviour of prey when they see people.
Ian Macdonald
Oak Bay
