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One-Antlered Deer Moves into Harlem's Jackie Robinson Park, Neighbors Say

By Dartunorro Clark | December 8, 2016 4:24pm
 The deer was last seen in a gated area of the park.
The deer was last seen in a gated area of the park.
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Petra Hailu

WEST HARLEM—​ A one-antlered deer has been wandering the grounds of Jackie Robinson Park, according to neighbors.

Yayné Hailu, who lives across from the park, said she has seen the buck strolling through the park for the past week.  

Hailu said there were once two other deer — another adult and a fawn — but they haven't been seen recently.

At one point, she saw the deer drinking from a puddle of water from the Starbucks across the street from the park.

“They didn’t have any food or water but some people left water for them and they’ve been eating the shrubs from around there,” she said.

Hailu said crowds have formed to gawk at the deer.  She said also saw people “abusing them and they were throwing things at them,” which prompted her to call officials in the Parks Department and animal welfare agencies.

“They can’t do much but put them down,” she said she was told. “They said it’s not an emergency.”

Hailu said she and her sister most recently saw the deer Thursday and snapped some photos.

A spokeswoman for the city Parks Department confirmed that there is one deer in the park area, but the department has also received reports of multiple deer in the area.

She also said park rangers were deployed to the park early Thursday to assess the situation.

“We are monitoring,” the spokeswoman said.

As of now, she said, the department will continue monitoring the deer. If it poses a threat to humans or is injured, the department will intervene, she added.

The spokeswoman said that guidelines from the state's Department of Environmental Conservation prohibit capture and relocation.

She added that if city agencies capture the wandering deer it would have to be euthanized.  

Bewildered residents have taken to social media after spotting a deer in the urban jungle.