“Unusually aggressive” rutting deer in a National Trust park have forced the cancellation of charity fun runs.
Tatton Park in Cheshire had been due to host 5k (3.1 mile) and 10k races on Saturday to raise money for The Christie cancer hospital in Manchester.
But in an email sent to would-be participants, race organiser Run Through said it was having to cancel following “several incidents” in which park visitors had been injured during the current rutting season.
Stags typically become more aggressive in autumn as they compete to find a mate, bellowing loudly and displaying their strength by clashing antlers.
In its email, Run Through said: “Recently, the deer have gathered unusually close to the park’s main pathways and have displayed unusually aggressive behaviour towards park users.”
The has asked both Run Through and Tatton Park for more information about the event’s cancellation.
People on social media seemed somewhat amused, with one person commenting: “Can anyone beat ‘rutting deer’ as a reason for your upcoming race being cancelled?”
Tatton Park was first declared a deer park by Edward I in 1290 and currently hosts both red and fallow deer.
Park officials advise visitors to “keep a sensible distance away” from deer and use the zoom function on their phones and cameras when taking photographs.
The popular park has featured in TV dramas Peaky Blinders, Coronation Street and A Gentleman in Moscow.
Along with neighbouring village Knutsford, it has also inspired fictional locations for the Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell, who wrote Cranford and Wives and Daughters.