WASHINGTON (AP) - The white-tailed deer in Rock Creek Park are safe from sharpshooters, at least for now.

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Animal rights advocates said Wednesday that they've reached an agreement with the National Park Service to refrain from killing any deer while a lawsuit over the killings is pending.

Several Washington residents and the group In Defense of Animals filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington in October. They say the deer can be managed with nonlethal methods and that the plan to kill the deer violates a law requiring the park service to preserve wildlife in its natural condition as nearly as possible.

The park service had planned to use sharpshooters and bow hunters among other methods to regulate the deer population, which officials say is greater than the park can sustain.