Stag smashes horns into car in Richmond Park as visitors are advised to keep their distance in rutting season

Jacob Jarvis9 October 2019

A stag ramming its horns into a car at Richmond Park has prompted calls for people to keep their distance from the animals during breeding season.

Adam Bradley, 32, captured shocking footage of the incident on Sunday during a walk in the famous green space.

Mr Bradley and a friend were admiring the animals from a distance when they witnessed some people get too close, before he heard cries from the deer.

The footage shows the stag beside a road, with cars passing close to the animal.

As one passed within a matter of centimetres to the stag, it put its head down then smashed its horns into the car.

The stag hit the car with its antlers
Adam Bradley

“I was like, ‘Oh my god!’”, Mr Bradley told the Standard. “I’ve lived in the area for nearly all my life, I’ve seen incidents like it before but I wasn’t expecting that.”

He said the stag seemed distressed after the incident.

There was damage to the car, which stopped further down the road then drove away from the scene.

Mr Bradley added: “It seems like many visitors are not aware of their behaviour during mating season.”

The Royal Parks has warned people off getting too close to deer
@twickerman

Last year a young girl, who was being photographed next to a rutting stag, was injured in Bushy Park.

While the previous year a visitor was hospitalised after suffering injuries from a male deer in Richmond Park.

Today the Royal Parks issued a statement warning that deer are “not Disney creatures”, as they urged people not to endanger themselves during rutting season.

Stags and bucks clash antlers to show their dominance during the period, which goes on until November.

With this in mind, guests are being warned to stay 50 metres from the animals.

Adam Curtis, Assistant Park Manager for Richmond Park, said: “These incidents almost exclusively happen when people ignore our 50-metre rule and get too close.

“You wouldn’t go on safari and take a selfie with a lion; the same logic should apply here. My advice is to be inconspicuous, and if you want to see rutting deer in action then take binoculars.

“Approaching wild deer at any time of year is unwise but during rutting season it’s downright dangerous.

“Putting yourself, child or dog near a 25 stone stag with sharp antlers, is extremely risky. Being hit by a stag running at full speed of 30 miles an hour is the equivalent of being mown down by a motorbike.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in