New home for Jeremy the Park Hill stag

Pic: Jeremy the Stag in his new secret home. Credit: Croydon Council

Jeremy the Stag in his new secret home. Pic: Croydon Council

A wild stag has finally been given a permanent home after being locked in a Croydon park for 10 days.

The red deer stag, nicknamed “Jeremy Corybn” by locals, was moved into Park Hill recreation ground by council staff after being spotted wandering across the adjacent railway lines on September 24.

Croydon Council confirmed that the stag was whisked away to a secret location on Sunday 4. The non-hunting estate which is now looking after Jeremy has requested to remain anonymous. 

Councillor Timothy Godfrey, cabinet member for culture, leisure and sport, said: “While we’re always welcoming of visitors to Croydon, the unannounced arrival of our antlered guest in Park Hill was not without its challenges.”

“Our parks officers, however, rose to those challenges, ensuring that the stag was properly cared for during his week’s stay, and that safe and suitable alternative accommodation was found, to which he’s been moved and, we’re told, settling in nicely.”

The council launched an appeal on September 28 asking if anyone could offer the stag a new home, but eventually he was rehoused through a contact of someone working on the team looking after him.

Jeremy was sedated and given a quick health check by Specialist Wildlife Services on Sunday, before being trailered to his new home in the Home Counties.

Council staff are still unsure where Jeremy came from and how he found his way onto the railway lines, since stags are not natural to the Croydon area.

Officers from the council’s parks team decided to close the recreation ground whilst looking after Jeremy and devising a plan to remove him, in case he became aggressive and injured both himself and onlookers wanting to catch a glimpse.

Croydon residents seemed unimpressed with how long it had taken the council to remove the stag when EastLondonLines asked them for their view on how the situation had been dealt with last week.

“I’d like to thank everybody for their patience while the park was closed, but I’m sure they understood why that had to be and, like me, are glad of the happy outcome,” said Godfrey.

The stag, which the council described as having “an impressive set of antlers’ was unavailable for comment.

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