"Animal rights activists filed a lawsuit on Thursday to try to stop a plan to cull deer in a Washington park, saying it would create a 'killing field' in the heart of the U.S. capital."

"The deer population in Rock Creek Park has soared in recent years, creating a threat to plant life, and the National Park Service said in May that it would launch a program to trim numbers to 15 to 20 per square mile (six to eight per square km), from 67 (26) recorded in a 2009 census.

Residents and activists filed suit in a U.S. District Court charging that the planned cull in the 12-mile-long (19-km-long) park would create a 'killing field' in the heart of Washington."

Ian Simpson reports for Reuters October 26, 2012. [2]