Photographer captures rare deer breed in the wild near Ludlow

Photographer Andrew Fusek Peters snapped this picture while exploring Mortimer Forest, near Ludlow, accompanied by a wildlife ranger.

The long-haired fallow deer, not known to be found anywhere else, was discovered in the 1950s.

The buck pictured is the more common fallow deer, but surrounding him are long-haired fallow does.

Andrew, of Lydbury North, said: "They are incredibly hairy.

"They have hair coming out of their ears, they have hairy bodies and hair coming out the top of their head.

"There are only about 80 of them in the whole world and they are native to Mortimer Forest. They have never been photographed in the rut. I am to date the only photographer who has been able to get good photos of them."

The rut is the mating season for deers. Mr Peters said he had to tread very quietly and crawled the last 20 yards so he could get near enough to take photos. The 51-year-old said: "You have to wear dark clothes and move quietly. There are a lot of conditions that have to be right. Deer are very secretive, you don't see them mating out in the open. We had only spent around an hour there when we heard one calling.

"We followed the sound. There were about 15 to 20 in the herd. They were enjoying the first light of the day. Normally when I do this kind of thing, nine out of 10 times nothing happens.

"This time, I couldn't have asked for more really."

The fallow deer was spread across central Europe by the Romans. Fallow deer are now widespread on the UK mainland and are present in most of England and Wales below a line drawn from the Wash to the Mersey.

There have been long standing populations in the New Forest and the Forest of Dean and many of the other populations originated from park escapees.

But the long-haired fallow deer, thought to be caused by a gene mutation, is only believed to be found at Mortimer Forest.