USNPS to begin deer kills at DC's Rock Creek Park
If you've never seen a deer, one bounding across a road in a park can be a romantic image worth stopping for. But for the National Park Service, deer aren't all fuzzy cuteness—the things are all but destroying Rock Creek Park.
This winter the park service will start what will be a years-long process of killing off a large number of the white-tailed deer that roam the park. According to Nick Bartolomeo, the park's chief ranger, there are roughly 375 deer in the entire park—a density of 80 per square-mile. For the park service, a healthy and manageable density wouldn't exceed 20 per square-mile, and it's been years since Rock Creek saw that.