Poachers may have shot New Forest pony

Police are hunting for the killer of a New Forest pony, which was found dead with wounds from a shotgun.

It is believed that the culprit was a poacher who shot the four-year-old filly in the belief it was a deer.

Authorities believe that the animal was shot in the early hours of Wednesday morning by a poacher hunting in the dark. A spokesman from Hampshire police said: “The four-year-old filly had wounds likely to have been caused by shotgun pellets.”

Local councillor Edward Heron, who is the deputy chairman of the New Forest National Park Authority, told the Daily Echo: “An incident like this is incredibly rare. It’s quite worrying but we will have to await the outcome of the police investigation.”