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Today it emerged that foreign huntsmen – probably European trophy hunters – may have felled The Emperor after a bounty was literally placed on his head.

The 12-year-old red deer – which weighed 300lbs – was thought to have been gunned down as a ”trophy” with its head and magnificent antlers worth at least £2,000.

A local farmer, who asked not to be named, said: ”There has been a price on his head for years – with figures stretching to around £1,250.

”No one knows who killed it, but rumours have been circulating around here that the hunter came from abroad, probably Europe.”

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