The deer travelled in a cage on board the tram, and was successfully transported to the vets with no further harm to the animal.
It is unknown where the deer came from, although it is for a fact that the incident took place a few miles from Corstorphine Hill, home to a large deer population. Last year the Scottish SPCA had to rescue a number of deer that had been scared off from their natural habitat by local pet dogs.
Authorities have confirmed that the deer has now been released back into the wild. Animal rescue officer Fiona Thorburn from the Scottish SPCA said:
“After being seen by a vet, the deer was sent over to our National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Fishcross to have a full check-up, and thankfully she was only suffering from shock and has now made a full recovery.
“We’re glad we were able to help her out as it must have been quite a stressful experience.”
Whilst animals are already officially permitted on Edinburgh Trams, Fiona Thorburn thanked the tram services for their help in transporting the more unusual animal passenger.
“Edinburgh Trams were great as they allowed us to use an out of service tram so that I could take her to the nearest wildlife vet to be checked out.”
Edinburgh Trams carried 5.38 million passengers in their second year of operation, but the deer was one passenger that the company never expected.
Gordon Ratcliffe, Duty Manager at Edinburgh Trams said:
“We’re used to dealing with unexpected situations in the Operations Control Centre but this was perhaps one of the more unusual of situations.”
The Scottish SPCA had been busy leading up to this incident, attempting to find the owner of a cat who found her way onto a delivery truck heading to Kilmarnock, campaigning against the practice of tail docking in puppies and continuing to seek out new homes for abandoned animals.
Illustraton: Josh Green