TOWNSHIP OF ESQUIMALT STAFF REPORT
MEETING DATE: December 15, 2025. Report No. CSS-25-008
TO: Council
FROM: Judy Kitts, Director, Strategic Initiatives
SUBJECT: Esquimalt Urban Deer Project
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That Council direct staff to shift to a monitoring-only approach for deer management, conduct a deer management and social carrying capacity survey, and work with a contractor to prepare a comprehensive immunocontraception (IC) program proposal for Council's consideration in Q3 2026.
Body
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Township of Esquimalt has completed a four-year immunocontraception (IC) study in partnership with the University of Victoria to assess the feasibility of IC for managing urban deer populations. The study demonstrated that IC significantly reduced reproduction and maintained low fawn recruitment due to Esquimalt's semi-isolated geography. With research concluded, Council must decide whether to introduce deer management as a municipal service, shift to monitoring only, or discontinue intervention. This report outlines key findings, options, financial implications, and recommended next steps.
BACKGROUND:
In summer 2020, staff received a report from the University of Victoria's Applied Conservation Macro Ecology (ACME) Lab titled "Black-Tailed Deer Population Size and Management in Esquimalt, British Columbia." The report proposed a study to assess deer population and explore immunocontraception (IC) as a management tool, similar to a project undertaken in the District of Oak Bay.
In August 2020, Council directed staff to enter into a contract with UVic to conduct a three-year IC study (2021-2023). Additional funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada extended the project into 2024.
The Township has now received the final report, "Black-Tailed Deer Population and Spatial Responses to an Immunocontraception Trial in Esquimalt, British Columbia." The study examined whether Esquimalt's deer popu...
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