George Monbiot hopes romantically to restore the Eagle owl, wolf and lynx to the British countryside. Thus explaining one of the mysteries of my college life.
Brasenose College, like Magdalen, has a quad called the "Deer Park". But it has no deer in it.
Now I know why. George had been re-wilding. Clearly the sabre-toothed tiger ate them.
I know of several Deer Parks. They all seem to be associated with stately homes, or ancient institutions. I suspect they were originally early attempts at farming deer for the said establishments' tables, in the days when venison formed a greater part of the diet than it does now, without all the kerfuffle of hunting the beasts.
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