A deer cull has wrapped up in Alberta and officials say they were able to kill almost 1,900 animals faster thanks to the use of a helicopter.

The cull, meant to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease, was supposed to last until the end of the month, but was completed earlier this week after officials killed 450 deer in southern Alberta near Empress and 1,400 deer in an area just east of Wainwright.

Lyle Fullerton, who speaks for Sustainable Resource Development, says ground crews can normally kill about 70 deer a day, but using a helicopter upped the daily total to more than 200.

"This was something that we've been talking about for a couple of years because our topography," he said. "We felt that being able to use a helicopter would be probably more efficient and it certainly has proven that."

Fullerton says they will now test the deer heads for the disease, which will take about a month.

In the past two years, 17 deer have tested positive for the nervous system disease. Four new cases of the disease were discovered during last year's hunting season, with one of those cases farther west than any of the previous cases.

Fullerton says culls are necessary because if the disease is allowed to spread it could decimate the deer population in the whole province.