Man found deer dead on beach during afternoon walk

Wesley Holmes
·2-min read
The intense image was taken by Lewis Imrie on Ainsdale beach
-Credit: (Image: Lewis Imrie)


An amateur photographer was walking on Ainsdale beach when he spotted a dead deer lying in the sand. The deer was found on the beach just off the Ainsdale Sand Dunes Nature Reserve at around 3.30pm on Tuesday, November 26.

Lewis Imrie, 23, snapped a picture of the scene on his iPhone, and his sister Erin shared the picture on a Southport community Facebook page. But as the image was shared more widely, people grew suspicious, as some speculated it had been made digitally using AI.

On the Southwest Lancashire Nature Notes Facebook page, one person said: "The texture of the sand doesn't look right. This is either not Ainsdale and somewhere more North, or fake."

READ MORE: Do you know any of these 54 people police want to speak to?

READ MORE: Man dies after falling from bridge in Huyton

Another person commented: "It certainly doesn’t look real or believable. Could be wrong but probably not with so many false images out there now." She added: "The stag itself looks suspicious."

Others defended the legitimacy of the picture, with one person saying: "Looks real. AI images would not be underexposed on the deer plus the horizon is not flat. A Google [search] shows deer have been seen in the woods and by the beach." Another said: "I think it’s real as I took photos of the same sunset on the same day but at RSPB Marshside."

Lewis, from Southport, said: "The crazy thing about it is, everyone is saying it's fake, but it's still there. I think it's because the photo looks the way it does, people think it's fake. I thought it was quite a good photo, if I do say so. It's funny because people are adamant about it being fake, but they can go and see it for themselves."

The deer was still on the beach yesterday morning, November 27
The deer was still on the beach yesterday morning, November 27

Lewis said he believed the deer was a fallow deer, adding: "I've seen a lot of roe deer around here, but I've never seen a fallow deer before. I think that's why people might think it's fake - they think it's a reindeer or a stag."

Fallow deer are fairly widespread in England, Wales, Ireland and southern Scotland, according to the Wildlife Trust. They are medium-sized and identifiable by their white-spotted coats and white tails.

It was suggested the subject of Lewis' picture was a red deer or even a reindeer, which are much larger breeds not usually found in the area. But further pictures taken at the scene yesterday prove perspective is everything, as the animal was in fact around one meter in length - half the size of an average red deer.

Latest stories

  • Watch as Florida gator drags massive python across pond

    Large Burmese pythons are known to eat alligators in Florida’s Everglades region. But sometimes the opposite is true. The accompanying footage, captured Nov. 28, shows a large gator swimming across a pond with a giant python in its

  • Three dead and dozens hospitalised after eating endangered sea turtle

    Turtle may have grown toxic from consuming contaminated algae

  • Meet the aging hunters battling bears in rural Japan

    STORY: In rural Japan a gunshot rings out. A bear slumps in a cage."This brown bear got too close to a human community. It wasn't right here but over that way in the middle of the town and on the roads close by. In this kind of situation, we have no choice other than to trap them." Bears are making their way closer to homes, and putting people’s lives at risk. Keeping the townspeople safe often falls on the shoulders of a dwindling band of aging hunters, like 75-year-old Haruo Ikegami. "I'm often the first one that gets there when they're caught like this, and I always say, 'oh come on, you're already in there?' I can't bear it."Once a common sight among the trees, hunters like Ikegami are now older, and fewer in number than before. :: RUNNING OUT OF TIMEJapan’s population is both aging and shrinking.As of 2020, about 60% of gun license-holders, like Ikegami, are over 60. And in areas where bears roam, some residents wonder what will happen when these hunters can no longer do their job. In the town of Naie, Tatsuhito Yamagishi has accused the local government of taking hunters for granted."They say we should train new hunters, but there's nothing specific on how we should do this. Who's going to hold the training sessions and the workshops? In a few years' time when we (hunters) are all over 70 years old, will there even be anybody left who could teach people how to hunt bears, even if they wanted to?"Naie’s local government declined to comment on the dispute with Yamagishi, but said officials were taking steps to address the bear problem.Japan’s environment ministry says it subsidizes local governments to train officials and conduct bear drills.But the country’s reliance on recreational bear hunters could become unsustainable, according to the hunters themselves, officials, residents and experts Reuters spoke to. :: BOLDER BEARSBoth black and brown bears’ habitats have been expanding, in part because of depopulation in rural areas, experts say.Some believe this, and less managed farmland, may be making bears more daring.And the animals appear to be raising cubs closer to human settlements, causing them to fear people less than before.All this has contributed to an increase in human-bear incidents.In the twelve months through March 2024, 219 people were attacked. Six fatally. More than 9,000 black and brown bears were trapped and culled over that period, according to Japan’s environment ministry.84-year-old Katsuo Harada carries scars from over 20 years ago, when a bear sank its teeth into his skull.'It was like it was gnawing on a raw radish, scraping and crunching. I passed out at the sound and I don't know what happened beyond that."Harada is now part of a group that helps keep problematic wildlife at bay."I feel that I have to protect the people living here. Whenever I set a trap, you saw today there are four locations, I'm driven forwards by the thought that if I hadn't laid the traps, somebody could have been killed." One common way to trap bears is by using a large cage with bait, like a deer carcass, salmon or honey. The trap is designed so that the creature steps on a metal plate when it goes near the bait, triggering the door to close. The local authorities then make a call on what to do with the animal and may involve licensed hunters to kill it. The trapped bear is looked after and fed until it is culled.As an alternative solution, some companies are turning to technology.This “Monster Wolf” robot growls, barks and emits threats. Costing about $2,500, it is triggered by a sensor and powered by solar energy.It has shown some success, but Yamagishi explains that it takes years for humans to learn how to trap bears and insists their expertise will remain indispensable. :: DWINDLING FRONT LINEResponding to the increase in attacks, the Japanese government this year proposed relaxing rules around gun use to make it easier to shoot bears in urban areas.But hunters say it’s hard to find new recruits because the job is expensive, unappealing, and exhausting.Some get 8,000 yen, or about $50 from local governments for a bear cull. This might cover expenses and fuel, Ikegami says, but little else. A system is needed, they suggest, where hunters are paid enough to support a family. Because if the younger generation doesn’t take up the torch, the last line of defence will soon be gone.

  • Two loved-up owls pictured in their love-nest box at nature reserve

    Two loved-up tawny owls have been pictured in their love-nest box at a nature reserve.

  • Wolves to lose protection, as EU lowers bar for shooting wildlife

    Downgrading species’ protection status for political gain puts decades of conservation efforts at risk, says WWF

  • Wolves to lose 'strictly protected' status in Europe

    Wolves in Europe will be less protected from hunting from 2025, after a majority of European countries on Tuesday accepted a proposal to downgrade their status due to their growing number and their impact on agriculture and farming livestock. Wolves' status will be lowered as of March 7 to "protected" from "strictly protected" under the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, in a move condemned by animal welfare groups.

  • Bald 'Bare Bear' Makes Stunning, Furry Transformation After Her Move to a Texas Sanctuary

    Rescuers found Eve the bear with one of the worst cases of mange experts have seen, according to the Humane Society of the United States

  • Man injured protecting wife from polar bear in northern Ontario, police say

    A man in Fort Severn First Nation, Ont., was injured Tuesday morning in a polar bear attack, said the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS)."The man who leapt onto a polar bear to protect his wife from being mauled is recovering from serious injuries to his arm and legs, but is expected to recover," said NAPS in an emailed release.The couple had come out of their home in the First Nation to find their dogs sometime before 5 a.m. and found a polar bear in their driveway, said police.The bear lunge

  • John Torode's wife Lisa Faulkner breaks silence as MasterChef pulled from schedule

    Gregg Wallace has unfollowed his MasterChef co-star and his partner on Instagram

  • Keir Starmer refuses to meet 99-year-old war veteran who had £60k wiped off her pension

    Sir Keir Starmer has refused to meet a Second World War veteran who had £60,000 wiped off her state pension.

  • Melanie Sykes says ‘jaw-dropping’ Gregg Wallace encounter made her quit TV

    ‘I was done,’ Sykes said after ‘Celebrity MasterChef’ host’s remark

  • Prince William and Prince Harry to unite ahead of Christmas

    The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex are set to unite ahead of Christmas. Find out more here…

  • Supermarket selling grocery nearly 20% more than others is most expensive for tenth week running

    The retailer has been called out for selling the key item more than its competitors

  • Princess Anne, 74, dines with King Charles in recycled fit-and-flare dress from her thirties

    Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, looked phenomenal at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace wearing a striking cream dress adorned with stitched flowers, which was actually a gown from her thirties.

  • Watch live: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs as his reset Brexit plans suffer another blow

    Watch live as Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs on Wednesday (4 December) as his reset Brexit plans suffer another blow. The prime minister looks set to lose another key ally in a blow to his plans to reset the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the European Union. Michel Barnier looks likely to be ousted as French prime minister on Wednesday in a no-confidence motion after he pushed through a controversial budget without a vote.

  • Tulisa shames I'm A Celeb campmates being 'fake for the cameras' after exit

    The singer gave a typically forthright reply when asked if she had friends for life from I'm A Celeb...

  • Melanie Sykes says Gregg Wallace was the reason she quit TV as she brands MasterChef 'unprofessional'

    Melanie Sykes has claimed that Gregg Wallace was one of the reasons which led to her stepping back from TV, after she appeared on Celebrity MasterChef and found the show 'unprofessional'.

  • Rita Ora frees the nip at Fashion Awards afterparty in mesh cut-out dress

    After wearing a custom Primark suit to The 2024 Fashion Awards, Rita Ora donned a comic strip dress with sheer mesh cut-outs to free the nip for the afterparty.

  • Opinion - Putin’s overseas empire is collapsing all at once — don’t let up on him now

    Russian President Vladimir Putin faces a difficult week as Syria's government collapses, Russian military bases are overrun by rebels, and protests in Abkhazia and Kazakhstan signal a decline in Russian influence in the region.

  • David Beckham's Christmas ad reported to authorities after fans spot 'dangerous' detail

    Beckham starred in the commercial after signing a reported £1 million endorsement deal