Man checks wildlife camera — and is shocked by rare all-black creature in UK. See it
Stephen Sangster’s social media is filled with videos and photos of wildlife and plants around his home near Kent, England.
The woodland manager and commercial drone operator regularly uses his wildlife camera and drone to capture unsuspecting plants and animals, his X (formerly known as Twitter) account shows. Recently, he captured footage of a particularly rare creature.
“I was very surprised to pick up the wildlife cam this week and see a completely black deer!” Sangster wrote in an Oct. 8 post on X.
A video shows the large stag traipsing through the woods. It glances right at the camera before strolling away.
Sangster identified the creature as a sika deer — which are medium to large deer known to inhabit woodlands and heaths in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland, according to The British Deer Society.
Sika deer change color seasonally, experts with the society said. In the summer, they range from pale yellow-brown to red-brown. In the winter, their coat gets darker, turning to a dark gray or black color.
Pure black sika deer are rare though, Sangster told Kent Online.
“It’s a very unusual sight,” he told the news outlet. “I’ve been observing wildlife in this woodland for seven years and never seen one like it.”
Kent is about 40 miles southeast of London.
This story was originally published October 11, 2023 at 9:45 AM with the headline "Man checks wildlife camera — and is shocked by rare all-black creature in UK. See it."
