I do not know if anyone has seen this but the folks who are interested in Anticosti may find this interesting though not enjoyable. It is about the decline of the Anticosti deer herd. While I am not going to argue the numbers its finding of a sharp downward trend is consistent with what I have seen. I am attaching the link which is in French ( I do not know if it still good). I will follow it with and English translation. A friend sent me this last February.
http://www.msn.com/fr-ca/actualites/quebec-canada/d%c3%a9clin-marqu%c3%a9-des-cerfs-de-virginie-sur-l%c3%aele-danticosti/ar-BBZAird?li=AAgh0dy
The white-tailed deer herd of Anticosti Island has suffered a decline of almost 80% in a decade, reveals the most recent inventory carried out by the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks (MFFP). A situation that ministry biologists essentially attribute to a series of harsh winters. But the mayor of the island, John Pineault, believes that managing logging is part of the problem. The white-tailed deer, which are closely associated with the image of Anticosti, were around 166,000 during the inventory carried out by the MFFP in 2006. However, in August 2018, the inventory of the ministry made it possible to estimate the about 37,000 animals. This represents a 78% decrease over a 12-year period. Although the ministry’s document notes a "noticeable" reduction in deer density on the island, it adds that the population "can vary significantly from year to year." Thus, during severe winters, we can observe "high mortality", while the following year, "mild" temperatures can encourage an increase in the number of animals. It must be said that this population of deer, introduced to the island at the end of the 19th century by the owner of the time, Henri Menier, has no natural predators on Anticosti. And hunters have slaughtered approximately between 6,000 and 8,000 deer per year since 2006. It would therefore be the harsh and particularly snowy winters, six in number between 2006 and 2018, which would have caused the decline observed by the MFFP. In light of the results of the 2018 inventory, the ministry stresses that "although the situation requires vigilance, it is not yet worrying". "The results of the inventory and the data coming from the monitoring indicators will be taken into consideration in the application of the integrated management strategy for the resources of the forest environment of Anticosti Island", also specifies the report of inventory.
In a written response sent on Sunday, the MFFP said that logging, which is around 100,000 cubic meters per year, has "no negative impact" on the island's deer. What is more, these cuts are necessary to "restore" the habitat of the species, in particular by subsequently establishing "exclos", these fenced areas to which the deer do not have access, long enough to let the vegetation grow back . The Société des establishments de plein air du Québec (SEPAQ), which hosts hunters on Anticosti in particular, replies that it relies "with confidence on the expertise of the MFFP" for cervid management. The organization added that "hunting has very little impact on the evolution of the livestock", but also that deer are "particularly resilient" on this island of 7,900 km2. forestry.
John Pineault, however, says that blaming the decline of white-tailed deer primarily on the harsh winter conditions on the island is "very simplistic." "We are not talking at all about the forest management of the last twenty years. But in the west of the island, the cuts have had a significant impact "on the deer, said Pineault. "We see it. We see a lot less deer now. "
The mayor therefore pleads for an adaptation of the cuts, according to the peculiarities of the island, but also of the lifestyle of these island deer, in particular by the regeneration of certain areas which could facilitate the feeding of deer. To target these priority areas for deer, John Pineault considers that the inventory should have been made during the winter period, in order to clearly delimit the areas frequented by the animals during this critical period for their survival. The most recent inventory was rather conducted in the middle of summer. According to the various echoes that he says he has obtained over time, the "capacity" of reception on the island would be around 80,000 to 100,000 deer. “Yes, the deer is a species introduced on Anticosti. But it is above all a species that has allowed human beings to live there for a hundred years. And these are animals that are very important today in the economy of the island, "said Mr. Pineault. Gaétan Laprise, who has been a wildlife technician on Anticosti for several years, believes that a lower density of deer allows the anticostian forest to regenerate. “Less deer allows the flora to regenerate better, more abundant. This provides better nutrition which benefits the deer and improves its survival and reproduction. We therefore risk continuing to have fluctuating population fluctuations. "
