North Coast 500 star, Callum the Stag, put down\u00a0 by vets <\/p>
A Red Deer called name Callum by his many online fans, has had to be humanely euthanised by vets. <\/strong><\/p> The stag had, for many years, been approaching visitors to the\u00a0Beinn\u00a0Eighe\u00a0car park at Torridon in the Scottish Highlands to get a sugary treat.\u00a0<\/p> Despite a sign in the car park with Callum\u2019s picture and the message\u00a0\u201cPlease do not feed me or get too close!\u201d\u00a0enthusiastic tourists shared\u00a0fruit bars, breakfast cereal and croissants with him. <\/p> These inappropriate snacks led to the stag\u2019s teeth rotting and many of them fell out, leaving him unable to graze the tough heather<\/a>, grasses and tree shoots that are a Scottish deer\u2019s normal diet.<\/p> The tragic end of a favourite animal that had featured in the memories and social media posts of many tourists taking the North Coast 500 holiday route, highlights\u00a0the consequences of feeding wild creatures.\u00a0<\/p> Andrew Grant McKenzie, who\u00a0has written extensively on the history of the\u00a0Highlands, including the Red Deer,\u00a0said: The issue of people feeding wildlife is one that comes up regularly across the Highlands.<\/a> <\/p> Callum was a wild animal who became a bit of a local legend and if he is now gone, hopefully his life has highlighted the importance of respecting our\u00a0natural world in the Highlands and not feeding the deer things which they wouldn\u2019t be able to browse themselves naturally.<\/p> \u201cThere is no doubt Callum had a good long life for a stag,\u201d added Mr McKenzie, but the general feeling is that inappropriate feeding led to his demise, rather than simply old age.<\/p> A spokesperson for\u00a0the\u00a0National\u00a0Trust for\u00a0Scotland<\/a>\u00a0said: \u201cWe are saddened to say that following expert vet advice, Callum the stag, who was often found in the car park at Torridon, has had to be humanely put down.<\/p> \u201cWe know that many in the community, and visitors too, will be sorry to hear this. As a conservation charity, we take our responsibilities for animal welfare seriously and the advice was that this was the kindest option.\u201d<\/p> General advice for anyone\u00a0coming into contact with\u00a0wild deer<\/a> is not to feed them or approach too closely. Anything other than their natural diet can cause stomach issues, an increase in parasites<\/a> and the risk of disease transmission. And, as in the case of Callum, an excess of sugar\u00a0ingested in\u00a0sweet and processed foods can cause damaging tooth decay.<\/p> Interacting with deer can also lead to aggressive behaviour and endanger the animals by encouraging them to be near to roads.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n North Coast 500 star, Callum the Stag, put down\u00a0 by vets <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":37898,"template":"","categories":[1,27],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/06\/callum-the-celebrity-stag-has-been-put-down-after-tourists-fed-it-croissants.jpg",8000,6400,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/06\/callum-the-celebrity-stag-has-been-put-down-after-tourists-fed-it-croissants.jpg",150,120,false],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/06\/callum-the-celebrity-stag-has-been-put-down-after-tourists-fed-it-croissants-300x240.jpg",300,240,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/06\/callum-the-celebrity-stag-has-been-put-down-after-tourists-fed-it-croissants-768x614.jpg",768,614,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/06\/callum-the-celebrity-stag-has-been-put-down-after-tourists-fed-it-croissants-1024x819.jpg",800,640,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/06\/callum-the-celebrity-stag-has-been-put-down-after-tourists-fed-it-croissants.jpg",1536,1229,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/06\/callum-the-celebrity-stag-has-been-put-down-after-tourists-fed-it-croissants.jpg",2048,1638,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"North Coast 500 star, Callum the Stag, put down\u00a0 by vets","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/37897"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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