Today Nottinghamshire Live is urging people to stand up and protect our stags, after yet another terrifying picture of people getting too close to the animals emerged from Wollaton Park.
For too long, some people have taken advantage of these beautiful creatures despite signs in the park asking people to stay away; using them for social media selfies, standing too close, and as can be seen in this latest picture – touching their antlers.
You can only imagine how awful this must have been for the stag. So today we are publishing photos of the latest people who thought it was a good idea to treat these animals as playthings.
Pictured on New Year’s Eve by park regular and volunteer ranger Chris Golightly, the trio laugh as one of them holds the stag’s antlers, shaking its head. The group then walk off, but not before slapping the animal on the rump.
If you know who any of them are, we’re asking you to help Nottinghamshire Police and let them know. Signage is clearly displayed in the park asking people not to approach the animals for their own safety and to avoid distressing them.
Visitors are advised to remain at least 50 meters away from deer
(Image: Nottingham Post)
Ms Golightly was walking through the park as she does regularly, trying to capture some pictures of the deer, when she spotted the incident unfolding.
She noticed the stag sitting down from a long distance and zoomed in on it using a long lens, which is when she witnessed the abuse by the three men. The pensioner said: “He grabbed hold of its antlers and started shaking its head.
“I was completely shocked. It was just awful. His mates were just laughing and when they walked off, one of them slapped the deer on the rump which made it stand up.
“It must have been really frightened, I don’t know why it didn’t attack them. I think it was just sitting half asleep. He looked terrified.”
Ms Golightly added that she has witnessed a number of disturbing incidents on the park. She said: “I’ve seen lots of stupid behaviour but this was a cruel incident. It was an attack on the deer.
“I rang the rangers and they went off to try to find these people but couldn’t. This is happening in the park all the time. Most of the visitors on the park are sensible, but some terrible, it’s really sad. I wasn’t ranging when I was out that day so didn’t have my radio with me to report it straight away.”
The volunteer has also reported the incident to the RSPCA, which Nottinghamshire Live has approached for comment.
Erin McDaid, head of communications at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, said: “There have been worrying reports of people disturbing deer and even touching stags whilst posing for photos at Wollaton Park for a number of years, and this latest reported incident raises real concerns.
“People must remember that these are wild animals which deserve treating with respect.”
Erin McDaid, of the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, warned that animals should be treated with respect
(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)
A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire Police has asked people to come forward with any details they hold about the incident.
Inspector Gordon Fenwick said: “We are aware of these images and will be in contact with park staff to discuss this matter further. We would also like to hear from other people who were in the park at the time and saw this very concerning behaviour.”
Anyone with additional information is asked to call 101 quoting incident 286 of January 3.
An incident during which a man was thrown into the air took place at the park in January 2024, when the individual tried to take a close up picture of a red deer.
At the time, extra signage had been installed around the park, advising visitors to remain at least 50 metres away from the animals. A stag was also put down in October 2022 after it injured a walker.
A Nottingham City councillor previously suggested people should be issued with fixed penalty notices for getting too close to the deer, but this was deemed ‘not practical to implement’.
Following last year’s incident, Nottingham City Council, which runs the park, said: “It’s disappointing that there are still some who choose to ignore the signs or to apply common sense, risking injury and unsettling the deer. We would simply remind them that these are wild animals whose behaviour cannot be predicted, and they should be left in peace to roam and observed from a distance.
“If anyone has any concerns about an animal or the way visitors are behaving around the deer, they should report this to a member of staff and we will investigate.”
A spokesperson from Nottingham City Council said: “It is disappointing when matters such as this are brought to our attention.
“The Deer at Wollaton Park are wild animals and this needs to be respected. Unfortunately there are still a small number of visitors who choose to ignore the signage and try to approach, risking injury and unsettling the deer.
“This is incredibly dangerous and the animals should be left in peace to roam and be observed from a distance. The actions seen in the photograph are fool hardy and could have led to a much more serious incident and would have also distressed the deer involved.”