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University of Michigan Dearborn seeks to curb deer numbers

University of Michigan Dearborn seeks to curb deer numbers
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 A hunt is planned starting Saturday at the University of Michigan Dearborn to kill deer that officials say threaten the environment and could harbor disease-carrying ticks.

University spokesman Ken Kettenbeil says sharpshooters will work to reduce the deer population from 70 to about 20-30. The Detroit Free Press reports the cull will take place in part of the wooded, 300-acre (121-hectare) Environmental Study Area.

The newspaper says a deer tick was found last year on a person who had been in the woods. But Kettenbeil says the main purpose of the hunt is to protect the area from damage by a growing deer herd. The venison will be donated to Gleaners Community Food Bank.

The school held a deer cull in 2015 that killed 34 deer of a 76-deer herd.