Visitors to Richmond's Royal Parks have again been told to keep 50 metres away from the deer.

The Royal Parks charity made the plea and released photos of visitors and photographers feeding, crowding and even petting the wild animals.

Previously, deer have even been fed by parkgoers and got their antlers tangled with a bicycle inner tube.

Rutting season

The annual rut is currently taking place in both Richmond and Bushy parks.

The rutting season (breeding season) is underway, in which male deer compete for breeding rights from now until November.

Related coverage:

Watch: stag rams car in reminder of rutting season in Richmond Park

'Deer fed sandwiches and fizzy drinks' - warning by park managers

Deer with inner tube in antlers highlights litter problem in Richmond Park

Red stags and fallow bucks, flooded with testosterone and adrenaline, roar and clash antlers in a bid to fight off rivals and attract as many hinds (female deer) as possible.

Park manager Simon Richards said: "Stags can have harems of up to 40 hinds, and they spend most of their day and night chasing challengers away and preventing hinds from straying, leaving little time for sleeping or eating."

He added: "This exhaustion and hunger, coupled with testosterone surging through their bodies, means they are in no mood for dogs spooking their hinds or humans getting in their face for a selfie."

Advice for visitors

During the rut, The Royal Parks is urging people to take responsibility for their own safety by:

• Keeping a minimum distance of 50 metres away. The more space the better. If visitors want a better view, they should bring binoculars
• Keeping dogs on leads or walking them elsewhere
• Not feeding or touching deer
• Not taking photos of deer at close range
• Never getting in between two rutting male deer

Avoidable injuries

Over the years, there have been incidents where visitors have suffered injuries from rutting deer that could have been avoided, the Royal Parks charity said.

In 2018, a young girl who was being photographed next to a rutting stag was injured in Bushy Park, and the previous year a visitor was hospitalised after suffering injuries from a male deer in Richmond Park.

Accidents almost always happen when people get closer than the recommended 50m.

Mr Richards said: "Deer rutting is one of the greatest wildlife spectacles in the UK. If people say they love nature, then they must leave wild animals alone.

"By getting too close, and invading their space, visitors are not only risking serious injury, they are also disrupting the natural behaviour of the rut."