Mystery of missing muntjac deer head from Verderers' Court

MYSTERY surrounds the disappearance of a mounted deer head from the Verderers’ Court in Lyndhurst.

The muntjac, which was displayed in the historic court building alongside other species of native New Forest deer, has gone missing.

The issue was raised at a recent Verderers’ Court meeting by Oliver Cook, son of retired Forestry England keeper Jonathan Cook who culled the animal at New Copse Inclosure in January 2020.

But he said both the muntjac head and its plaque had been removed from the wall “sometime in the last few weeks”.

It was not known why or where the deer head had gone.

His statement continued: “I request that the verderers and Forestry England do all they can to find the missing items and, in the event that it is established that it has been stolen from the court, that security protocols are revised appropriately to ensure that the many irreplaceable items in the court of considerable public interest are properly protected.”

Mr Cook said his father left the role of keeper in January this year after 43 years of service.

He went on to explain that the muntjac head was first obtained as it had been the only species of deer found in the New Forest not represented in the Verderers’ Court.

The verderers had agreed to fund the taxidermy and mount it in the court for education purposes.