A RARE young Monkjack deer was this morning pulled to safety this morning from Southampton Water after an exhausting swim from the New Forest.

Two intrepid onlookers standing on Town Quay spotted the struggling youngster animal and alerted the RSPCA before rowing out to rescue it. Once on shore, RSPCA animal collection officer John Livermoore placed the shivering but otherwise unscathed creature in a thermal bag and covered its head to minimise the stress.

The animal was then driven to The Ark in Stubbington where it will be cared for overnight before being released back into the wild. Mr Livermoore said that this was only the second deer of its kind he had rescued in his ten years with the RSPCA.

He said that deer specialists in Surrey would be contacted to ensure that the rare animal would be released in an appropriate area. He added: "It's a good job they got it out. Sometimes they just swim around until they get exhausted and then drown.

"They kept hold of it tightly in the rowing boat to stop it kicking out.

"They're beautiful animals but they're actually very dangerous. I nearly lost an eye once from a kick to the head."

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