Coroner warns of danger of stags during roar, after death of Southland firefighter

The coroner has warned of the dangers for hobby farmers managing their stags during the roar, after the death of an Invercargill firefighter.

Benjamin Henry McLean, 63, died in April 2020, of multiple traumatic injuries and blood loss after being gored by a stag.

A report by Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame released into his death, says McLean and his partner owned a 10-acre farm at Makarewa, with deer including two red stags, pigs, sheep, alpacas, goats, chicken and ducks.

“Mr McLean was known to treat his animals like pets,” the coroner says. The bigger of the two red stags was named Robert who was about four years old, and had been bottle-reared by McLean and his partner.

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Robert’s velvet antlers had not been cut that season, and the two red stags had been fighting and were separated because of the roar season, the coroner says.

Robert was put in a paddock with three red deer hinds. The paddock was fully fenced with two-metre high deer fencing and two gates.

A WorkSafe New Zealand guideline states that it applies “to anyone handling deer” and notes: From late January onwards, the nature of stags tends to change with a move toward increased aggressiveness. By the beginning of March (beginning of the rut) they can be very dangerous and unpredictable.”

McLean’s partner was scared of Robert and told McLean they should sell him, the coroner says. However, McLean assured his partner he would be safe “because the stag knew him well”, and he always took a fibreglass stock stick into the paddock, the report says.

“…Mr McLean’s colleagues had told him not to go into the paddock with stags during the roar.”

On April 15, 2020, McLean went out to the farm and then later his colleagues became concerned when he did not arrive for his shift.

They went to McLean’s property to search, heard a stag roaring, and found him with serious injuries and ripped clothing, the report says.

A colleague checked for a pulse through a fence but could not find one.

Police identified rut marks in the grass, a broken tip of an antler near McLean’s body and Robert’s antlers had blood on them, the coroner says.

McLean and his partner were not professional farmers, however the WorkSafe guidelines were pertinent to them, Cunninghame says.

The coroner recommended that during summer, Federated Farmers disseminates information about McLean’s death with a link to WorkSafe guidelines for safe deer handling, with a particular focus on lifestyle block owners.

Federated Farmers advised the coroner that it was happy to promote the guidelines and the need to take care with handling stags, which could specifically target lifestyle farmers.

The guidelines say antlers should be removed early before they are hard antler and a “rigorous culling policy” should be practised for animals with poor temperament, aggression, flightiness or unpredictability.

Two people should be on hand when entering a paddock with a rutting stag, and a vehicle with protection should be used.

Hand-reared deer can be the most dangerous, and should not be kept in hard antler.

“Never work with stags on your own, or enter a paddock with stags on foot during the rut.”

The Ministry of Justice would also provide a copy of the coroner’s findings to New Zealand Deer Farmers Association and Deer Industry New Zealand.