CITY HALL -- The city wants to give Bambi a vasectomy.

The Parks Department plans to sterilize hundreds of male deer to help manage Staten Island's out-of-control and expanding herd, starting as soon as this fall's rutting season if the plan is approved by the state.

"We do aim to get all of them in order to completely limit the reproduction," said Sarah Aucoin, Chief of Wildlife and Education at Parks.

The three-year effort is expected to eventually reduce the borough herd 10 to 30 percent annually. The city would spend $2 million this first year, with the annual cost going down as fewer males are left to sterilize.

Mayor Bill de Blasio will ask the comptroller's office to fast-track contracting for the endeavor this week. The chosen vendor and city will then apply for a permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which regulates wildlife and must approve a control plan.

"We are moving ahead with a plan to manage the impacts of the deer population on Staten Island in a way that is smart, effective, and humane," de Blasio said in a statement.

Sterilization was chosen because Staten Island's herd is mostly growing through reproduction, not migration. Sterilizing males instead of females would be faster, cheaper and more humane.

The procedure is uncomfortable and time-consuming for female deers while a buck's vasectomy only takes about 15 minutes after a bait-and-capture. Unlike does, male deer tend to roam alone so they don't learn from traveling in a herd.

"They're easier to capture," Aucoin said.

There's also lot less male deer to sterilize. The city believes a couple hundred bucks call Staten Island home -- they usually make up 40 percent of any deer population.

'A NEW PHENOMENON'

A 2014 aerial survey found 763 deer in Staten Island's green space, though some ecologists think there may be more than 1,000 here now. The city surveyed the entire borough earlier this year to find all concentrations and preliminary data is expected later this spring, in time for sterilizations to begin in September.

An unrestrained and expanding herd can harm parks and private property, spread tick-borne illness and wander into roads more often, increasing the risk for deadly vehicle collisions. There were 40 reported deer collisions on Staten Island last year.

Hunting is illegal across the five boroughs, so the city would have to get special state approvals for a massive deer cull. City action would also be delayed from a potential lawsuits. And the NYPD would have to supervise and close off any hunt, adding to the cost and complexity.

Sterilization was also likely more desirable because City Hall already has a delicate relationship with animal rights activists. The same group that got de Blasio to support a ban on horse carriages -- a politically disastrous effort that fell flat earlier this year -- launched a petition to "save the Staten Island deer."

Borough President James Oddo previously said the city should use both lethal and non-lethal methods to control Staten Island's deer. He said in a statement on Monday that the city is making the case that this more involved approach may be as effective as lethal means.

"We need to get past the chuckle factor and accept that this is a potential solution to a serious problem," Oddo said. Minority Leader Steven Matteo (R-Mid-Island) added, "No matter what we feel about this issue, we have to move forward with a deer management plan that will be practical and achievable."

'CAREFULLY EXECUTED'

The city will also install fences, guards and plantings to protect wildlife from hungry and destructive deer. The Department of Transportation put up deer warnings across Staten Island last year and will test new technologies to alert drivers.

All sterilized bucks will be ear-tagged under the plan, and the city will track some male and female deer with radio collars during the three-year research study. The Parks Department will use this to assess population dynamics, including deer mortality and birth rates.

The biggest adult bucks that mate with the most does would be sterilized first, followed by smaller, younger and less popular males.

They would be lured to certain parkland and shot with a tranquilizer dart before being driven unconscious to one of several parks facilities that would be prepped for the surgery. The deers would be released back into parks.

Most of the work would happen after dark.

"It's not like a big rodeo," Aucoin said. "It's very carefully executed."

This article was corrected to clarify that the vasectomy effort is expected to eventually reduce Staten Island's deer herd 10 to 30 percent annually, not 10 to 30 percent overall.