Mt. Lebanon Officials Meet To Discuss New Attempt At Deer Management

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Mount Lebanon officials are still looking for ways to curb its deer population after a deer cull this spring didn't go as planned.

The Board of Commissioners met Monday with residents, wildlife experts and officials with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Earlier this year, Mount Lebanon initiated a plan to cull deer and have them shot as part of an effort to reduce the deer population.

But the controversial plan was ended early in March.

Wildlife specialists blamed the lack of snow and cold weather, protestors trespassing in posted trapping areas, and sabotage of some deer corrals as major reasons for the program's termination.

Monday's meeting was held at Mt. Lebanon High School.

"If you listen to the woman from the Pennsylvania Game Commission, step one is to identify if there even is a problem. Mount Lebanon has failed to identify that there is 'a deer over-population problem.' Mount Lebanon has also failed to link this deer 'problem' to traffic accidents. They still haven't proven that," said Leila Sleiman, a resident against deer culling. "They haven't said how many deer there are. They haven't done a survey since 2014, which showed that the numbers went down since 2013, so to be honest it's a solution in search of a problem."

But leaders in Mount Lebanon say something does need to be done to control the deer population. They're now exploring other options, like archery.

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