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When the City of Kimberley set out to tackle the urban deer issue, they were one of the first communities in the province to do so.
But Mayor Jim Ogilvie said at the time that while Kimberley would be in the lead, many other municipalities around the province faced the same issues and would also be looking for solutions.
That has certainly proved to be the case. In this area both Cranbrook and Invermere have come up with plans similar to Kimberley, and will be looking to conduct culls.
"Cranbrook's plans are almost identical to ours," Ogilvie said. "The only difference is the number of deer to be culled. Cranbrook is looking at quite a small number."
The Penticton Western News reported last week that Penticton's City Council has approved a draft plan based on the findings of Kimberley's urban deer committee.
Ogilvie says that although the City of Penticton didn't contact the City of Kimberley directly as far as he knew, the plan is a public document.
Penticton will first look at a controlled public hunt on City and private properties, although Kimberley has had to back off of that action.
"In our case, the landowners, such as the golf courses and Teck, were against the hunt," Ogilvie said. "The golf courses didn't want to be associated with something like that, which is understandable, and Teck doesn't want anybody on their land. So the plan is to proceed with the cull."
Penticton is also looking at a cull similar to Kimberley's.
As for progress on that, Ogilvie says it has been slow going.
"It's been a long haul. We still haven't got our permit for the cull although we've applied for it. Kimberley, Cranbrook and Invermere have all requested permission to proceed. But there's plenty of time. We are looking at January or February and there will be another count before that. We want to be sure of our numbers.
"The government has come up with some help. They will purchase the traps and bolt guns but that equipment has to be shared."
In the meantime, while governments search for longterm solutions, Kimberley's Wildlife Aware is reminding residents that bucks are moving back into town at this time of year and can be quite aggressive.
Report all negative wildlife experiences to 1-877-952-7277.
