A Red Deer stag that had become a star of social media has had to be humanely destroyed by vets.
They discovered him in a poor physical condition at the Beinn Eighe car park near Torridon in the Scottish Highlands, suffering from painful arthritis and malnutrition.
For many years well-meaning visitors to the area had been feeding the stag, dubbed Callum, with cereal bars, croissants and Rice Krispies.
He had become used to being fed by hand, which led to frequent car park visits in the tourist season. He had also become far from camera shy. Many people travelling the North Coast 500 route took the opportunity to snap a picture, but unfortunately the sugary snacks they gave him in return rotted his teeth, making it difficult for him to forage naturally.
With hardly any teeth left to easily graze his native grasses, heather and tree shoots, Callum the stag became dependent on supplementing his diet with junk food and being fed hay by locals during the winter months. Although this can sustain horses and bovine animals, it is not wholly nutritious for Red Deer as they do not have the digestive system to process it.
Signs by the footpath from the car park to Beinn Eighe pictured Callum with the message “Please do not feed me or get too close!” but these were often not heeded by hikers and passing motorists in the thrill of getting close to a wild Red Deer.
Callum’s story is just one of many told in the Highlands of enthusiastic tourists interacting inappropriately with local wildlife. In 2020 a hotel in Glencoe issued a warning to guests not to approach or feed the deer after one visitor was seen waving chocolate biscuits at a stag, which provoked the animal into charging, while another tried to get a young deer to drink whisky, which led to it invading a camper’s tent.
In neither case was anyone hurt but the stories could have ended in grave injuries to both people and animals.
Highland historian Andrew Grant McKenzie, who is a Red Deer enthusiast, said: The issue of people feeding wildlife is one that comes up regularly across the Highlands. Callum was a wild animal who became a bit of a local legend and if he is now gone, hopefully his life has highlighted the importance of respecting our natural world in the Highlands and not feeding the deer things which they wouldn’t be able to browse themselves naturally.”
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