Hunters Kill 300 Deer In Essex County During Annual Cull – Verona, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Hunters killed 300 animals during Essex County’s 12th annual deer management program, according to officials.

Earlier this week, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. announced that a total of 200 deer and 100 unborn deer were removed from South Mountain and Hilltop reservations between Jan. 15 and March 5.

The program is held as one part of a multi-pronged approach to reduce the local deer population and preserve the forest habitat, county officials have maintained.

However, some animal rights advocates have protested the annual hunt, alleging that the cull is inhumane and that there are better, non-lethal methods for controlling the local deer population.

As part of the program, licensed, volunteer hunters stationed themselves in trees in the above county-run reservations and shoot downward at deer. To maximize safety, South Mountain Reservation, Hilltop Reservation and all parking areas and walking paths inside the two reservations were closed to the public on the days the program was held in that specific reservation. Essex County Turtle Back Zoo, Essex County Codey Arena, the Essex County Park-N-Ride facility and McLoone’s Boathouse Restaurant in the Essex County South Mountain Recreation Complex in West Orange and all county roads through the reservations remained open. In addition, the Essex County Sheriff’s Office coordinated safety patrols of the area with local police departments.

South Mountain Reservation is located in Maplewood, Millburn and West Orange, and Hilltop Reservation is in Cedar Grove, North Caldwell and Verona. The program was not held in Eagle Rock Reservation this year.

Since 2008, a total of 2,670 deer (1,682 deer and 988 unborn deer) have been killed as part of the annual cull, county officials said.

“Controlling the population by removing deer from South Mountain and Hilltop has proven to be very successful in helping to preserve the forest habitat and maintain our reservations as viable resources for recreation and open space,” DiVincenzo stated.

“Each year, we have updated our program to address current conditions, reducing the number of days and transitioning into a ‘maintenance mode’ to maintain the population at a manageable level,” DiVincenzo continued. “This is just one facet of our comprehensive Deer Management Program that also includes creating seed banks to accelerate the re-growth of the forests and installing reflectors and lights to enhance traffic safety by keeping deer from entering the roadway.”

According to county officials, all deer removed from the reservations were inspected and information about their age, reproductive status, gender and weight, as well as the number of shots fired was collected. They were transported by the county to a NJ Department of Health approved butcher for processing. Venison was donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in Hillside, which distributes the meat to the needy and homeless.

“In 2019, 5,216 pounds of venison were donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey,” county officials stated. “Since 2008, a total of 47,075 pounds of venison have been donated to the FoodBank, which equates to more than 168,000 meals. Volunteers who completed at least seven half-day shifts of service received 40 pounds of venison.”

According to county officials, in addition to culling the deer herd, an aggressive replanting program to accelerate the regrowth of the forests is being undertaken in South Mountain Reservation and Eagle Rock Reservation. Forty-seven enclosures (42 in South Mountain and five in Eagle Rock) have been installed where native vegetation species have been planted so their seeds can be reintroduced into the area. The eight-foot high fences are designed to prevent deer and other large animals from foraging on the planted areas, but allow smaller animals, such as rodents and birds, to enter and exit.

The fences will remain in place for about 25 years, county officials said.

The planting project was funded with grants from the NJ Green Acres program received by the South Mountain Conservancy and the Eagle Rock Conservancy and grants from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund.

County officials stated:

“Replanting native plant species is necessary to restore the forest understory that was being destroyed by the overbrowsing of deer. The loss of this vegetation has prevented new trees from growing, created erosion problems, allowed invasive plant species to flourish and caused the number of native animal species that rely on the plants for food or protection to decline.”

Another aspect of the Essex County Deer Management Program includes enhancing safety on county roads by “reducing the number of motor vehicle accidents involving deer,” officials stated.

For example, through a pilot program with the NJ Department of Transportation, Essex County received grant money to install detection devices that reflect motor vehicle headlights and emit a high-pitched noise to scare deer away from the road when cars approach. The reflectors are installed along Cherry Lane, Brookside Drive, JFK Parkway and Parsonage Hill Road in Millburn, Livingston and West Orange, officials said.

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