Stag shot after injuring visitor in London

A stag was shot in Richmond Park, southwest London, after injuring a man who was attending a picnic. The incident was first reported by Le Chasseur Français and has been cross-checked against information published by ITV News, which attributes details of the incident to the Metropolitan Police and the park authority, The Royal Parks.

According to that account, emergency services found a man in his 60s with chest injuries. He was taken to hospital, where his injuries were found to be neither life-threatening nor life-changing. The Royal Parks said the stag had approached the group in search of food.

The park authority concluded that the animal’s behaviour posed a risk to visitors and ordered it to be killed. The stag was shot by one of the organisation’s wildlife officers. The authority suspects it had learned to associate people with obtaining food, although this explanation should be understood as the authority’s assessment rather than a conclusion drawn from a published technical report.

Food changes wildlife’s distance from people

The case highlights one of the main challenges of living alongside large animals in areas on the edge of cities: they lose their wariness when repeatedly fed. The Royal Parks’ official deer safety guidance prohibits feeding deer and advises keeping at least 50 metres away, not touching them and avoiding eating near them.

When a deer approaches people who are eating, the advice is to conceal food and its packaging and move away slowly, without shouting, gesturing or attempting to drive the animal off. If it threatens or charges, the authority advises placing a vehicle or solid barrier, such as a large tree, between yourself and the deer. This guidance differs from the instinctive reaction of confronting the animal and is intended to reduce stimuli that could trigger a charge.

Richmond Park is home to more than 630 free-roaming red and fallow deer, according to the park’s official information. Both species are wild and unpredictable despite regularly sharing the park with runners, cyclists, photographers and families. Their apparent proximity to people does not make them domesticated animals.

A removal distinct from population control

The Royal Parks also carries out active deer population management to prevent overpopulation, food shortages, the spread of disease and other welfare problems. However, the death of this stag was specifically presented as the removal of an individual deemed dangerous, rather than a routine population-control measure.