Judge rules 2,000 Catalina Island deer can be killed to save native plant species

Cull of animals that eat native shrubs, causing spread of fast-igniting grasses, to go ahead despite fierce oppositionLocals and tourists have long fawned over Catalina Island’s mule deer population. For nearly a century, the ungulates have roamed the land’s waterfronts and woodlands, so comfortable around humans that it is not uncommon to spot deer roaming downtown Avalon.But that sight will soon disappear, after a…