An eyewitness has warned against sightseers getting 'dangerously' close to stags in a Nottingham park just a week after a vistor was attacked. Wollaton Park was closed to the public for two hours on Sunday, October 16 after a walker was injured by a deer.
A male red stag, protective of his does, was said to have approached and injured a member of the public at 8.15am and was put down as a result. The walker, who had been a safe distance away and had done nothing wrong, was taken to hospital as a precaution.
But now an eyewitness has captured footage of park goers on a different occasion getting very close to a young stag. Helen Drury said: "A group of sightseers, just after getting very close to deer despite warnings and using their venture to have a photo with a stag/female deer and a pricket (young stag).
Read more: Nottingham's Wollaton Park was closed after walker injured by deer
"This is the problem, [there is] no awareness of potential danger. This ridiculous behaviour has gone on for decades, members of the public visiting for the first time appear to have little or no common sense.
"I was amongst five dog walkers observing the situation and calling upon the group to move away from the deer. The clip shows some of them responding but not all.
"Prior to me getting my phone out, the group were very near the stag and other deer. They ignored our calls and only after a few minutes started to disperse." Deer have been known to attack people when they feel threatened, especially when they are rearing new-borns in the spring, or during the autumn rutting season.
As a result of the recent attack Labour's Councillor Steve Battlemuch, who represents the Wollaton West ward on Nottingham City Council, asked Wollaton Park carry out a "full security review". A Nottingham City Council spokesperson defended the decision to put down the stag involved in the attack, and said it was "extremely rare for a deer to approach a park visitor in this way, unprovoked and from a distance".
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