Judge rules 2,000 Catalina Island deer can be killed to save native plant species

Cull of animals that eat native shrubs, causing spread of fast-igniting grasses, to go ahead despite fierce oppositionLocals and tourists have long fawned over Catalina Island’s mule deer population. For nearly a century, the ungulates have roamed the land’s waterfronts and woodlands, so comfortable around humans that it is not uncommon to spot deer roaming downtown Avalon.But that sight will soon disappear, after a judge this week paved the way for the island’s conservancy to kill nearly all the island’s 2,000 deer. Continue reading...