Deer with crossbow bolt in head shows 'reckless' poaching

A wildlife photographer hopes his pictures of a deer with a crossbow bolt stuck in its head will raise more awareness of poaching.

Dave Waddicor took a photo of the female deer at Mallards Pike in December and passed images and video footage to Gloucestershire Police.

The Lydney-based photographer said it was "terrible" to see.

Gloucestershire Police is investigating the incident and asked anyone with information to get in touch.

Mr Waddicor said the bolt had entered from the back of the head, sheared off and become fixed between the skull and the ear and was "hanging out".

The photographer highlighted the danger that poaching presents - to humans as well as animals.

"It could have been people. A child or an adult. That bolt could have totally missed. It could have gone into the dense part of the forest and hit somebody," he said.

Mr Waddicor said he first spotted the injured deer in a small herd around Christmas but his photography equipment did not show the bolt clearly.

He returned to the beauty spot, between Parkend and Blakeney, to track down the doe again.

"It was in the distance and when I downloaded the image it wasn't really clear enough so I decided to come back and see if I could get it again," he said.

"Luckily enough I saw it again and managed to film it,"

Mr Waddicor said the female deer had one of this year's fawns with it and seemed to be grazing and moving well in the circumstances.

"It's healed around the bolt and the doe has carried on as normal with the affliction," he said.

"It's the first time I've seen it but I'm not surprised to see it because it goes on and it's not good."

Gloucestershire Police rural crime team carries out regular patrols in the Forest of Dean and said poaching can be a particular problem at this time of year.

"There's lots of issues really, poaching is the main one," said wildlife officer PC Cath McDay.

"(We look for) Lamps or torches being shone through the woods at night, dogs barking, firearms being used, gates being left open vehicles parked in laybys that aren't normally there," she added.

Police described the footage as "terribly sad and shocking" and that it showed how "inhumane and reckless" poaching can be, when it released the video earlier this month.

Using crossbows to shoot mammals is illegal and anyone found with crossbows on Forestry England land can also be prosecuted by police and Forestry England.

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