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Valley Forge deer cull: 600 killed, 9 tons of meat

Federal sharpshooters have killed 600 deer at Valley Forge National Historical Park - or nearly half the park's deer population - officials announced this afternoon.

Federal sharpshooters have killed 600 deer at Valley Forge National Historical Park - or nearly half the park's deer population - officials announced this afternoon.

The Park Service said that as a result of the deer killed in the first year of the four-year culling operation, over 9 tons of meat have been donated to food banks.

Park officials estimated that 1,277 deer were living in Valley Forge before the culling began in November. Ultimately the goal is to reduce the herd to well under 200.

Animal-rights activists have asked U.S. Appeals Court judges in Philadelphia to halt the shootings. Oral arguments on the appeal are expected in late May or June, Lee Hall, an attorney with Friends of Animals, said today.

The Park Service says the culling program is necessary because deer are devouring forested growth and crowding out other species.

Hall said she believes that the Valley Forge estimates of the deer population may have been inflated. Of the 600 number, she said, "I'm worried that that's the majority."

Valley Forge officials said the killings by the U.S. Department of Agriculture sharpshooters, which occurred on 16 nights starting in November, were conducted efficiently, safely, and humanely.