Two people have been charged and will appear in court for allowing their dogs to chase the deer in separate incidents in Bushy Park and Richmond Park, Royal Parks police announced yesterday.

The news comes just a day after the Royal Parks told dog owners that from May 4th until August 2nd dogs must be kept on leads because of the deer-birthing season.

Police said the first incident was on March 20 when a Jack Russell dog was seen to chase a herd of fallow deer in Richmond Park, causing them to stampede around a large crowd of people including children. The owner is due to appear in court on May 10.

The second incident on April 5 happened when a whippet was seen to chase several different herds of deer in Bushy Park for over 10 minutes, with one deer seen to scale a fence in order to escape. The owner is due in court on May 13.

Both chases were witnessed by police and captured on body-worn video cameras.

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At least five deer have died in the last year as a direct result of being chased by dogs not on their leads.

In total there were ninety reported incidents of off-lead dogs chasing deer in the two parks and several owners have been convicted for not having their dogs under control.

On its website, the Royal Parks wrote: "Deer are instinctively frightened of dogs and this fear has not been helped by recent events."

About 300 deer are expected to be born in the park over the next few months.

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