In pictures: Urban red deer

Award-winning photographer Sam Rowley, aged 15, has been taking pictures of the deer in London’s Richmond Park for the past five years. (All photos courtesy of Sam Rowley)

Sam says the park is one of the best places to photograph red and fallow deer. “It is near my home, so I have to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity,” he says.

Sam took these pictures in the autumn, the season during which the deer are very active - rutting, bellowing and mating.

The pictures, he says, show that urban deer still live normal lives, “even in the middle of London”. Here jackdaws feed from a deer's head, cleaning it of flies and parasites in the process.

"It's best to be with the deer at dawn when they are most active and when the light is best," says Sam. (Image courtesy of Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

Sam is able get to within a few metres of most of the deer as they are very used to people. "But you have to be careful as the males can be aggressive," he says.