Deer kicks 4-year-old girl in face at Mass. zoo

MENDON, Mass. — Officials say a startled deer jumped and kicked a 4-year-old girl in the face at Southwick’s Zoo in central Massachusetts.

Mendon Deputy Fire Chief Mark Poirier said Monday that the girl had a bruise on her right cheek. She was taken to Milton hospital for evaluation and was listed in stable condition.

The Telegram & Gazette reports that a group of children were walking through the zoo’s 35-acre deer forest when a boy jumped and scared a European Fallow deer.

Zoo President Justine Brewer says the startled deer leaped and its hoof hit the girl in the face.

Brewer says the deer exhibit has been open for more than 15 years without any problems. Southwick’s Zoo is one of the largest in New England.