Two animal advocacy groups filed a lawsuit to delay Valley Forge National Historical Park’s plan to shoot more than 1,000 deer in the next four years.
The Connecticut-based Friends of Animals and Pennsylvania-based Compassion for Animals, Respect for the Environment filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court, saying the National Park Service violated federal environmental law by not fully considering alternatives, like using coyotes, to thin the herd.
Park officials want to begin shooting the resident deer as early as this month, hoping to get the population down to 175, from the current 1,277 that are wandering around the property chewing up plant life and causing an increase in disease risks.
Park officials have defended the plan, which includes luring the deer by apples and grain and having federal employees and contractors use silencer-equipped rifles to shoot the animals during night hunts.
“We've done a good and honest job of evaluating all the alternatives, based on the best available science," said Kristina Heister, the park's natural resource manager.
Pennsylvania State University professor emeritus Priscilla Cohn offered to pay $125,000 for fences and contraceptives for the female deer in Octorber, but park officials say its too late for such measures. The deer birth control plan was not enough and far too limited, according to park officials.
The University of Denver law school's Environmental Law Clinic is representing the animal groups.
