Mule deer were introduced to California’s Santa Catalina Island and grew into a long-running ecological problem. Twenty-two animals were brought to the island between 1928 and 1932, and by 1947, the population was estimated at about 2,500. The deer were originally introduced as game animals. They were native to mainland Southern California but had not historically lived on the Channel Islands, and with no established population of large predators on Catalina, the introduced herd expanded rapidly. A later scientific study found that the deer were also affecting rare plants that evolved without large mammalian herbivores. The story eventually became a conservation problem involving hunting, fenced research plots and efforts to protect Catalina’s native vegetation.
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