French villager launches hunt for 'intoxicated' deer that attacked locals

A hunter is on a shoot to kill mission to find an “intoxicated” deer that has attacked and gored locals in a village in the Dordogne region of southwest France, popular with British holidaymakers.

“To charge people like that is extremely rare for a deer,” the head of the local hunting association in Augignac, René Mandon, said.

He said it may have eaten a local plant known as fleur de Bourdaine which for animals can have the same effect as alcohol or recreational drugs have on humans.

In one of the assaults, the animal charged a woman, knocked her to the ground and then gored her with its antlers, leaving her bleeding profusely from two holes in her leg and one in her back Mr Mandon said.

“When her husband tried to intervene, it knocked him to the ground too, where he grappled with it before grabbing a stick and bashing it on the head so that he could get free,” he told the Telegraph.

The woman was rushed to hospital in an ambulance and was later given several days of sick leave to recover from the trauma.

That attack took place near the village of about 1,000 people, where many British people live permanently or have holiday holes, on Sunday evening.

Two days earlier a deer, believed to be the same male, charged a farmer in his field near Augignac.

Another explanation for the deer's behaviour is that it may be acting aggressively because it is in rut, said Mr Mandon, who is one of a small number of hunters in each region of France called upon by local authorities to cull wild boar, foxes or wolves if they become too numerous.

The local authorities have granted him a special licence to kill the aggressive deer, which he says presents a very real danger to locals, especially children who might be out playing during the school holidays.

Shooting the animal will be tricky as it is moving around a rural area that is dotted with houses, he said.

Another deer caused a five-car pile-up just outside Augignac in late 2015 when a driver hit it as it tried to cross the road. No-one was injured in the accident.

The French département, or county, of Dordogne is often dubbed “Dordogneshire" due to its population of up to 10,000 British expatriates.