IM City Park deer transfer takes another step ahead
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IRON MOUNTAIN — The planned transfer of the City Park deer herd to DeYoung Family Zoo in Menominee County is moving forward after completion Monday of a first round of tuberculosis tests.
A second set of TB tests will be needed four months from now. If there are no problems, the transfer of the 21 deer can be scheduled, Iron Mountain City Manager Jordan Stanchina said.
“We have it in process and in motion,” he told the city council Monday.
Plans for the herd’s removal took shape earlier this year after the city faced months of pressure from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to correct pen deficiencies.
At a Feb. 2 meeting, facing a deadline for renewing the pen’s license, the council voted 5-2 to eliminate the facility. Absent an alternative, the council’s decision set the stage for the entire herd to be culled and processed into venison for food banks.
While confirming DeYoung Family Zoo was willing to accept the herd, the city consulted the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and updated the pen’s classification to allow a transfer. Then, in May, USDA agreed to renew a permit for the six-acre deer enclosure with the understanding the city planned to relocate the animals.
The required TB testing under the supervision of Ingalls veterinarian Dr. Barry Wehner was delayed until autumn to allow removal of antlers at the same time. Tranquilization of the deer was required for this activity, and City Park was closed Monday to accommodate it.
The deer pen has been an attraction since at least the 1940s, but critics have told the council it’s turned into a place of cruelty perpetuated by decades of inbreeding. The Friends of City Park, meanwhile, has encouraged the council to find a way to keep a pen operating.
Under a USDA directive, preserving the pen would require facility improvements and the ongoing supervision of a local veterinarian.
DeYoung Family Zoo near Wallace is an 80-acre facility that has been open to the public since 1990. It generally welcomes visitors from May until early fall and includes a number of natural habitats.