Friendly buck ‘John Deer’ has been euthanized in B.C. for being too familiar with humans

A B.C. deer famous for playing with preschoolers and nuzzling vacationers was killed by conservation officers this week because it was deemed to be too friendly.
“The deer was hand-raised and very habituated to humans, which made it a high risk for unpredictable behaviour,” read a statement by the B.C. Ministry of Environment, adding that “the deer’s behaviour was escalating due to the arrival of the breeding season.”

Provincial wildlife veterinarian Helen Schwantje says the docile deer was believed to be the same one that tangled its antlers in a child’s backpack as it tried to play with youngsters in a school playground during the first week of classes.
“I don’t think the deer needed to be euthanized … I just think it’s a tragedy,” said Liz White, a member of the Animal Alliance of Canada and a vocal opponent of a spate of recent B.C. deer culls.

On Thursday, environment officials argued that tranquilizing and relocating the deer would have been so traumatic, that it would probably have killed the animal anyway. “Translocation of deer is rarely humane,” read a statement.
As for sending the animal to a wildlife preserve, “integrating an animal with this behaviour into a captive herd would be an extreme challenge and may not be possible.”
Sadly, whenever “close encounters” with wild animals make the news, it usually signals impending doom for the animals themselves.

For five years, an orphaned killer whale named Luna became famous for loitering in the waters off Nootka Sound, B.C. In 2006, the animal was sucked into the propellers of a passing tugboat and killed.

In June, a Banff, Alta., motorcyclist gained international attention for photographing a wolf chasing him along a B.C. highway — a sure sign of an animal that had become dangerously accustomed to approaching humans for food handouts.

“They say a fed animal is a dead animal; it’s certainly something we try our best to discourage,” Omar McDadi, a Parks Canada spokesman told the National Post at the time.
 
Tristin Hopper | 13/09/12 | Last Updated: 13/09/12 7:27 PM ET
National Post