POLICE officers and speed watch volunteers stopped three cars for ‘speeding’ in 90 minutes.
The group had people from New Forest National Park Authority and Forestry England along the A31 through Minstead and into Emery Down.
According to New Forest officers, this is where the last animal fatality was on the New Forest’s roads.
A spokesman from New Forest Cops said: “We were there for an hour and a half from 6.30am and stopped three cars.
“One was spoken to by our partners and given advice on why it is so important to stick to the 40mph throughout the Forest and the other two were given tickets for travelling at 54 and 51 mph.
“We then spent thirty minutes monitoring the traffic on the road into and out of Lyndhurst at Parc Pale and everyone that went passed us was below the 40mph limit – so again thank you for helping us reduce speed and animal deaths across the forest.”
New figures show that only one animal was killed on forest roads in the first three months of this year - thought to be a record low.
Free-roaming animals in the district are owned by people known as commoners - villagers with the right to let their livestock graze the landscape.
New Forest National Park Authority said 37 ponies, cattle, sheep and pigs were killed or injured in road accidents in 2023, compared to 39 the previous year.
Gilly Jones from the group New Forest Road Awareness said: "Animals roaming across the New Forest have right of way and can be extremely unpredictable.
"Drivers need to be able to react quickly and if the worst does happen it’s essential that they know what to do.
"If you are involved in an accident with a forest animal, please call 999 immediately even if it runs off as it may have an internal injury."
Gavin Parker, chair of the New Forest National Park Authority, added: "The New Forest ponies are known as the 'architects of the forest' – their grazing helps make the forest internationally important for wildlife.
"Although the overall trend of accidents has been gradually reducing over the years, any death or injury to an animal is a great loss to its owner and the New Forest."
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