White-tailed Harlem deer spared by New York officials dies while waiting transfer

A one-antlered white-tailed deer captured near a park in Harlem, New York City, slated for euthanasia and subsequently granted a reprieve, died before it could be moved upstate.

According to the New York Daily News, the young deer settled in Jackie Robinson Park after it wandered into the New York City neighbourhood less than two weeks ago, becoming somewhat of a local celebrity.

However, on Thursday, police captured the animal after it made its way onto the property of a New York City housing complex, the newspaper reported. It was sent to an animal shelter.

According to WABC-TV, city officials were set to euthanize the animal on Friday saying it was “the only humane and safe recourse,” for the buck.

Late Thursday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tried to intervene urging city officials to consider relocating the animal.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“Over the last day, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) advised the City of New York that there are alternatives to euthanasia that they can consider, including relocation,” the governor said in a statement. “The City has now captured the deer, and Governor Cuomo has directed DEC to offer assistance to the City to transport and find a new habitat for it immediately.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a radio interview Friday morning the best option for the deer was to be put down because it wouldn’t survive after relocation.

“If a deer is already in a natural location and you can leave them there, then they have a chance of survival, but if not, you don’t really have another option,” the newspaper quoted the mayor as saying. “It’s a question of is it going to be a quick and merciful death versus potentially a very long painful process.”

The DEC said in a statement that it was working to do “everything we can to save the life of the deer.”

“To that end, we have told the city that the feds or we can transport it upstate today,” DEC spokesperson Sean Mahar said in a statement.”

According to the New York Times, the city reluctantly agreed to let the DEC take the animal.

“Because transporting deer causes them great stress, and because relocated deer have very low survival rates, the city still believes that the most humane option here is euthanasia,” the newspaper quoted a city parks spokesperson as saying. “However, the state is the regulatory body here, and we defer to them.”

Just before 1 p.m., the DEC confirmed it was en route to save the animal from death row.

“After repeated attempts to provide the City with alternative options to euthanasia, including relocation, the state is securing the safe transport of the deer to suitable habitat upstate in partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Unit,” the DEC said in a statement.

Just after 2 p.m., WABC-TV reported the deer had died while awaiting transport to a new life in upstate New York.