FAMILIES are being urged to keep their distance from the New Forest's famous ponies in a bid to prevent children getting hurt.

Campaigners have marked the start of the main tourist season by warning that people are putting themselves at risk by getting too close to the animals.

It follows several incidents in which residents and visitors have been injured after feeding or petting the ponies.

Head Agister Jonathan Gerrelli said: "Most are even-tempered animals and often come close to visitors, but they're not used to being handled and should be left alone.

"They can react very suddenly if they feel threatened, so give them space.

"The animals may look friendly but they can bite or kick - especially when they have young with them. Sadly some people, usually children, are hurt each year."

Mr Gerrelli spoke out at the launch of a new campaign called Keep Your Distance.

A spokesman for the National Park Authority, one of the organisations involved, said: "Treating the animals as tame encourages them to pester people and hang around busy roads and car parks, putting them at risk of being involved in road accidents.

"There's no need to feed the ponies as they're well adapted to thrive all year round in the wild."

The Forest is home to thousands of free-roaming ponies, pigs, cows and donkeys, all of which are owned by people known as commoners.

Tony Hockley, chairman of the Commoners' Defence Association, said: "Grazing animals are vital to everything we love about the area.

"The Forest provides them with all the food they need. Feeding them just draws them to people, car parks and roads, putting them at great risk. It also changes the grazing habits that keep them healthy."

The Forestry Commission is also involved in the new campaign.

Community manager Zoe Cox said: "New Forest Rangers are helping people gain a better understanding of how to behave around ponies to reduce the number of injuries.

"We're trying to spread the message that people must keep their distance, both for their own safety and that of the animals."

In 2014 a woman and her five-year-old daughter were attacked by a group of donkeys. They were visiting Hatchet Pond, near Beaulieu, when the animals surrounded them, cutting off their escape route.

It happened just days after two pensioners were attacked by a cow while walking through a field in Lymington.

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