Hollywood Reservoir closed for distressed deer search

The Hollywood Reservoir was closed on Wednesday as wildlife officials embarked on day three of a mission to help a deer with a large bone jammed in its mouth.

The deer was first spotted by Hollywood Hills residents who shared photos and requests for help on the Nextdoor app. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife spent all day Tuesday searching for the animal, hoping to tranquilize it and remove the bone, but the agency’s Tim Daly says it’s been difficult because the deer separated itself from its herd.

“I just got off the phone with our biologist. He sees the rest of the herd,” Daly told KNX News’ Karen Adams. “There's a group of about eight, but the one that we're looking for is not there.”

Daly said they had to close off the reservoir because, while they appreciate people wanting to help with the search, they’d actually get in the way.

It’s still unclear how the bone became lodged in the deer’s mouth. Daly said it’s “not entirely wild” to see a deer chewing on a bone, but it’s “really, really unusual” that the bone became stuck so far down its throat.

“We definitely want that bone removed from that animal's mouth so we can see how it's doing, get it on a road to recovery, and also so we can learn a little bit more about why this might have even happened in the first place,” he said.

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Daly added that the deer in the area have been domesticated because people are feeding them, which isn’t advised because the animals will become dependent on humans and stop searching for food on their own.

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