Paraguayan soldier dies after being gored by deer on grounds of presidential residence

A deer gored and killed a Paraguayan soldier who was guarding the country's presidential residence, Reuters reported.

Víctor César Isasi Flecha, a 42-year-old assistant sergeant in Paraguay's army, died Monday night "from a perforation in the thorax" after the deer attacked him that morning during a routine patrol. Military spokesman Colonel Victor Urdapilleta confirmed his death Tuesday morning and promised that Flecha's family would be compensated.

According to France24, the deer was a chital, a species native to the Indian subcontinent, and was one of many animals that wander the more than 20 hectares of the Mburuvicha Róga presidential residence. The chital is also known as the axis deer and has antlers that can exceed 3 feet in length.

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Urdapilleta said that although Paraguayan presidents have long kept animals — including ostriches, macaws, rheas, and ponies — on the residence grounds, this is the first such attack of which he is aware.

Frederic Bauer, director of wildlife at the country's environment ministry, confirmed that the chital was reared on a government ranch before being donated to the presidential residence and said it is "not appropriate to have exotic animals in captivity."