• Kenneth Price was gored by a deer last Wednesday
  • Air ambulance crew carried out emergency surgery at the scene
  • He was flown to hospital in Swansea where he received more surgery
  • Mr Price passed away yesterday leaving his wife Doreen, 73
A deer farmer has died after being attacked by a stag.

Kenneth Price, 75, was left with serious injuries after the animal gored him with its antlers.

Paramedics operated at the scene before he was airlifted to hospital. Despite further surgery, Mr Price died five days later.

Image
Mr Price died after being gored by a male deer during rutting season on Mountain Hall farm near Saron in Wales
The lifelong sheep farmer had diversified into breeding deer for venison more than five years ago, it is believed.

His widow Doreen, 73, was yesterday being comforted by friends and relatives.

Mr Price was a leading sheep judge who was a regular at the Royal Welsh Show. David Pittendreigh, regional chairman of the National Sheep Association, said: 'Kenneth was a super, super man. It's a real tragedy.

Image
Deers are usually shy animals which will avoid humans but during rutting season males will become aggressive and territorial
'He had started farming deer. It's the rutting season with the stags. It's a real shame.' Stags are usually cautious around humans, but during the autumn rutting season they become more aggressive and territorial.

A friend said yesterday: 'Many people will miss him as he was a prolific showman of his prizewinning sheep and was always at the Royal Welsh.'

Mr Price was attacked in the middle of the deer rutting season on his farm, Mountain Hall, at Saron, near Llandysul, Wales. A spokesman for Wales Air Ambulance said: 'The patient sustained multiple serious injuries. He was anaesthetised and surgery was performed on the scene by the helicopter crew.

'On arriving at hospital he was critical but stable.'Despite receiving yet more surgery at Morriston Hospital in Swansea, Mr Price passed away yesterday.

An investigation into Mr Price's death will be formally opened by the Swansea coroner.

The Health and Safety Executive said it was aware of the incident and was making initial inquiries.

Deer are usually cautious animals, but in rutting season, which runs from October to early November, males become more territorial and aggressive.

It in not known if the injuries to Mr Price were caused by a red deer, which has sharp, branch-like antlers, or a fallow deer which has broader, flatter ones.

Yesterday Dave Goffin, of the British Deer Society, said of stags: 'Normally they are quite timid animals and they would normally flee if they saw someone. However, during the rutting season their testosterone levels shoot up.'

Fallow deer's antlers change colour and harden in the build up to the rut in anticipation of being used as a weapon to fend off rivals.

Males will adorn themselves with bracken, roll around in their own urine, and then fight each other in an attempt to attract a doe to mate with.

They will also make distinctive mating noises which range from bellows and shouts to low grumbles in order to find breeding partners.

The Royal Welsh Show, at which Mr Price was a judge, is an annual event held every July in Llanelwedd, near Builth Wells, in Powys.

It was set up by the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society and is one of the largest agricultural shows in Europe.