The story of a young deer wandering through downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park has ended in tragedy.
On Sunday evening, the male black-tailed deer was killed in a collision with a vehicle on the Stanley Park Causeway near the south end of the Lions Gate Bridge.
The young buck, which was only about a year old, was frequently spotted by motorists at the Causeway location, ever since it made its first appearance in the downtown peninsula in mid-July. Stanley Park was its home over the last two months.
On the same day it made its first appearance, it is believed the buck swam across the First Narrows from North Vancouver to downtown Vancouver.
The B.C. Conservation Office had intended to relocate the animal when there was a safe opportunity to do so.
UPDATE: The Vancouver Park Board has issued a statement regarding the death of the deer:
“The deer had become habituated to people feeding and petting it. I want to emphasize how important it is for people to maintain an appropriate distance from wildlife such as deer, raccoons and coyotes. Contact with people can cause animals to become dependent and aggressive towards humans,” said Vancouver Park Board Biologist Nick Page.
Unfortunately, habituated deer cannot often be released successfully into the wild. The deer would have either become a problem somewhere else or died due to being unable to fend for itself. Finding sanctuaries willing to receive animals in these circumstances is a challenge.
Once again, we remind people that this is exactly the kind of tragedy that often occurs when wildlife become habituated to humans. Please do not touch, feed or take in orphaned fawns or other wildlife.
The fawn wandering downtown Vancouver this morning has headed to Stanley Park — “a good place for a deer to be.” Did it arrive with a swim across Burrard Inlet? Take a look: http://www.cbc.ca/1.3161871
Posted by CBC Vancouver on Tuesday, July 21, 2015
My dad caught @downtowndeer at the beach in Stanley Park. #downtowndeer #vancouver pic.twitter.com/O2N6i9pFBg
— Kim Muise (@kimmuise) July 28, 2015
[youtube id=”MCcKFtAJmW8″]
I swear I saw it #canada #vancouver #touristforeverwannabe #tourist #holidays #fishing #bridge #deer #yesisaiddeer A photo posted by Giada Baldessarelli (@giadinabaldes) on
A photo posted by Christian (@c_vanvliet7) on
I made a new friend today. #deer #stanleypark #vsco A photo posted by Sharini Brew (@sharinibeee) on
Rewinding Stanley Park, the deer are back! #vancouver #vanpoli A photo posted by brent granby (@brentgranby) on
A photo posted by @daviddehaas on
theres a deer in the stanley park causeway! be careful drivers! @AM730Traffic pic.twitter.com/YJw0RWXu6i — Mark Lavigne (@maarklavigne) August 7, 2015
Follow Channels and Categories