Nottingham City Council has defended the "tough and upsetting" decision to put down a Wollaton Park stag after it injured a man during an incident over the weekend. It was confirmed that Wollaton Park had to be closed for two hours on Sunday (October 16) after a man was taken to hospital following an incident with a deer.
The man has since returned home and his injures are not thought to be serious, but the stag was put down by vets after the incident. Commenting on our article about the incident, many Nottinghamshire Live readers questioned the killing of the deer, with one calling it an "overreaction".
But a spokesperson for Nottingham City Council, which manages Wollaton Park, said: "We understand why people have questioned the decision to put down the stag. In circumstances like this, a vet is called to observe the animal's behaviour and make a professional judgment. The council will always support whatever decision is made, even though that can be tough and upsetting.
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"We're very lucky to have herds of deer at Wollaton but these are wild animals whose behaviour cannot always be predicted. If anyone has any concerns about a deer, they should report this to a member of staff and we will investigate immediately."
Labour's Councillor Steve Battlemuch, who represents the Wollaton West area on the council, earlier called for a "full security review" to take place into Sunday's incident to make sure that lessons were learned from it. The incident happened near the golf course at Wollaton Park at around 8.15am.
But in regards to the review, the city council spokesperson added: "There would always be a review into what happened with any incident of this nature. However, it's important to be clear that it is extremely rare for a deer to approach a park visitor in this way, unprovoked and from a distance, even in the rutting season."
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