The City of Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation has obtained a permit from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to kill as many as 350 deer residing in Eagle Creek State Park. However, one local nature-lover filed a lawsuit on Monday, November 10, 2014 seeking an injunction to stop the planned deer kill.
The lawsuit alleges the City of Indianapolis and its Parks Department are violating several local ordinances relating to the discharge of firearms within Marion County and a state law that requires getting bids for a contract the City intends to enter for the deer kill. The suit also says the evidence the City has used to justify the deer kill is questionable.
A report from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) highlights some statistics to put the proposed Eagle Creek deer kill into perspective.
- 281 deer were killed in Brown County State Park last year
- Brown County State Park totals 15,776 acres and is the largest Indiana State Park
- Eagle Creek State Park has 3,900 acres of land, with the rest of the park taken up by the reservoir.
- Per acre, the permit allows five times as many deer to be killed in Eagle Creek State Park as in last year’s Brown County State Park deer hunt.
Without this injunction being granted, the deer kill in Eagle Creek State Park will begin sometime after Thanksgiving 2014. A hearing has been set for Wednesday November 26, 2014, before Judge Robert R. Altice Jr.