MENDON, Mass.—A boy walking through a deer forest in a central Massachusetts zoo jumped and startled a deer who responded by leaping and kicking a 4-year-old girl in the face, officials said Monday.
Mendon Deputy Fire Chief Mark Poirier said paramedics took the girl to Milton Hospital for evaluation. He says the girl, who suffered bruise on her right cheek, was in stable condition following the incident at Southwick's Zoo.
The Telegram & Gazette reported that a group of children were walking through the 35-acre deer forest when a boy scared a European Fallow deer.
Southwick's Zoo President Justine Brewer says the startled the deer leaped and its hoof hit the little girl in the face.
Brewer described the incident as an accident, adding that deers are not aggressive.
The deer forest is an open wooded area inside one of the largest zoos in New England. Visitors are encouraged to stay on the walkways, talk quietly and not to chase the animals.
"We've had the deer forest open for more than 15 years and we really don't have any incidents," Brewer said.
Source
