‘THE ROYAL PARKS ARE NOT A PETTING ZOO,’ RAGES ANGRY COUNCIL LEADER
Richmond Borough’s council leader Cllr.Gareth Roberts has hit out following the shocking photos of families getting dangerously close to the deer in Richmond Park.
The photos have created headlines across the media and generated thousands of messages on social media as well as renewing the call for the return of The Parks Police.
Cllr. Roberts told Teddington Town exclusively:
“What will it take for people to recognise that Richmond and Bushy Parks are not petting zoos?
“The deer are very large, very unpredictable animals and many of them have massive antlers on their heads.
“The idea that parents encourage their children to go up and stroke these animals absolutely beggars belief.
“The parents may not appreciate it, but they are putting their children in danger. Yes, the deer are gorgeous to look at, but they need to be looked at from a distance.”
He added: “If the Royal Parks police were still operating this would be something they’d be dealing with.
“It shouldn’t fall on park rangers and volunteers alone to deal with this matter, the Mayor of London really needs to rethink the cut to the Royal Parks Police before somebody gets seriously hurt.”
This is not an isolated incident. I see it every time I go out on a ranger shift especially at weekends in the summer. The big worry is if visitors attempt to do this during the rut in September. That is when the stags are the most dangerous.
It happens all year and from all sorts of people.
Yet consistently it’s dogs that get the bad rep and excluded/restricted from our only local green space.