An escaped red deer disrupted a large part of Drunen on Friday morning. The deer was discovered near a primary school and fled after an attempt was made to tranquilise the animal. The animal eventually ended up in the center, where it ran past the market stalls and disrupted all traffic.
A number of teachers from De Duinsprong primary school were amazed on Friday morning. The deer looked into one of the classrooms. “I was chatting with a colleague when we saw the animal walking past the window,” says teacher Sabine. “Not something you see every day.”
The teachers think the animal comes from Cromvoirt. “We think it came over the dunes during the night.” The teachers did not have long to admire the animal. The deer hopped towards the market where it managed to disrupt everything.
Around eleven o’clock in the morning, bystanders managed to close in on the deer. A veterinarian then tried to sedate the animal with a tranquilizer dart, says an employee of Brabant Noordoost animal ambulance. “Once the dart is in his ass, it takes a while before it starts to work. But the prick scared the deer and it fled away.”
According to a correspondent, the animal ran through the streets of Drunen with the tranquilizer dart in its behind. It then ended up right in the center. “There it ran between the market stalls, past the chip shop and the library.” It caused a lot of chaos, because traffic in the area was blocked everywhere due to the escaped deer.
Bystanders were eventually able to catch the animal and secured it in a driveway. Meanwhile, the anesthesia started to work and the animal fell to the ground. According to the animal ambulance, it was taken to a deer sanctuary in Helvoirt.
It is unclear where the deer came from. Animal ambulance staff believe it escaped from a deer farm. A spokesperson for Natuurmonumenten calls the chance that it is a wild animal ‘small’. Since 2016, there have been no free, wild red deer in our province.
