A man has died and a woman is fighting for her life after a deer attack outside their rural home, according to reports.
The deer is said to have gored the pair in Moyhu in the Australian state of Victoria at 8.30am local time.
The animal was shot by police at the scene.
Paramedics battled to save the man's life but he was confirmed dead.
The woman has life-threatening leg and upper body injuries, according to news.com.au.
She was flown to hospital in Melbourne in a life-threatening condition.
There are thought to be a million wild deer in the state of Victoria, with many increasingly found in urban areas.
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However, according to the BBC , a study in Australia from 2000 to 2013 found there had never been a recorded instance of a fatal deer attack.
There has been growing political pressure for a cull in recent years following ballooning populations.
The Invasive Species Council of Australia tweeted: "Our biggest fears may have been realised, report just out that a Victorian man has been killed by a deer.
"We need hard heads to tackle this growing problem, not hard hooves."
It is argued that large deer populations are harming rainforest areas and putting rare species under threat s a result.
