Giant red stag, Britain’s largest animal, shot dead by hunter
A giant red stag, dubbed the Exmoor Emperor, thought to be the biggest animal in Britain, has been shot dead by a hunter, a practice condemned during the animal’s mating season. The animal is believed to have been killed by a licensed hunter rather than a poacher.
In responding to press enquiries about the shooting, OneKind has said:
“While there may be some circumstances when the shooting of deer is unavoidable for animal welfare reasons, this animal appears to have been killed for sport. It is particularly distressing that a fine stag was killed during the red deer mating season, a time when animals should be protected.
“There are strong moral and animal welfare reasons for all species of deer, of both genders, not to be hunted at crucial points of the breeding cycle. Males need a closed season to build up fat and energy reserves post-rut. Any interruption to this process will have a detrimental effect on the breeding cycle of the surviving male animals. When this was debated recently in Scotland, all sides - including gamekeepers and those in the shooting industry - agreed that a closed season for males was an absolute necessity.”
The Emperor was reported to be in good health, and is likely to have been the target of a sports shooter as part of an increased competition to secure stags as trophies. Although the shoot was legal, there has long been an informal agreement, even within the hunting community, that the mating season was to be considered off limits for deer hunting.