In the late 1920s, mule deer were brought to Catalina Island; now a judge has ordered for 2,000 of them to be culled

In the late 1920s, mule deer were brought to California's Santa Catalina Island, but years later they have grown into an ecological problem that no one is able to contain. Twenty-two animals were brought to the island between 1928 and 1933 and by 1947, the population was about 2,500. Originally native to mainland Southern California, the deer had been introduced as game animals and with no established population of large predators on Catalina the introduced herd expanded rapidly, threatening the native plants. Now, according to a report by the New York Post, nearly all of the 2,000 mule deer are set to be killed under a controversial plan designed to save the plants and make the wildfire-prone day-trip destination less combustible.An ecological problemCatalina's native vegetation had evolved under conditions that did not include large populations of browsing deer, and as the herd spread across the island, this distinction mattered. A 2016 study published in Ecology and Evolution reports on one species in particular: Crocanthemum greenei, more commonly known as island rush-rose. The plant is endemic to the Channel Islands and occurs on Catalina. Researchers wanted to determine wheth...