Two male deer caused a stir in the southern Polish mountain resort of Zakopane on Saturday when they clashed in a test of strength on one of the city’s main streets.
Passersby were astonished to see the two stags do battle on a main road and the unusual sight drew crowds and held up traffic.
Rutting season is close to an end and the time of year is marked by males challenging one another for dominance and the right to mate. But a guide from the local Tatra National Park explained such physical combat is rare, even in the wild.
The contest usually starts vocally, then progresses to ‘parallel walking’ when one stag will walk alongside another to intimidate it and assert its dominance. With males being pumped up with testosterone and more aggressive at this time of year, however, sometimes they will lock antlers.
Rutting season is close to an end and the time of year is marked by males challenging one another for dominance and the right to mate. But a guide from the local Tatra National Park explained such physical combat is rare, even in the wild.
The contest usually starts vocally, then progresses to ‘parallel walking’ when one stag will walk alongside another to intimidate it and assert its dominance. With males being pumped up with testosterone and more aggressive at this time of year, however, sometimes they will lock antlers.
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“The deer charge each other with their antlers with a vengeance,” Tatra guide and forest expert Dr Tomasz Skrzydłowski told commercial broadcaster TVN 24.
“The ones that fought the duel on Jagiellońska Street are not very large individuals, but with beautiful wreaths, or antlers. The stag that wins such a duel starts breeding with a whole herd of hinds in a given area—this is how it is in nature, but here the situation is different, because in Zakopane there are hinds, but they are not in large herds like in forest areas.”
Hinds have been regular visitors to central Zakopane in recent years, Dr Skrzydłowski explained, though encounters with stags are rare, and this was the first recorded case of males fighting in the city.
Tatra National Park authorities appealed to the public not to approach wildlife and especially not to feed any animals they encounter.
“The ones that fought the duel on Jagiellońska Street are not very large individuals, but with beautiful wreaths, or antlers. The stag that wins such a duel starts breeding with a whole herd of hinds in a given area—this is how it is in nature, but here the situation is different, because in Zakopane there are hinds, but they are not in large herds like in forest areas.”
Hinds have been regular visitors to central Zakopane in recent years, Dr Skrzydłowski explained, though encounters with stags are rare, and this was the first recorded case of males fighting in the city.
Tatra National Park authorities appealed to the public not to approach wildlife and especially not to feed any animals they encounter.
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