Visitors to the Phoenix Park are being urged not to feed the local deer population, as they could become more aggressive in the future.
Research carried out at University College Dublin has warned that feeding the deer at the Phoenix Park could change the behaviour of the herd into the future.
The work outlines that the deer population could become aggressive and begin harassing visitors to the park for food.
The team found that does who routinely sought food from members of the public were birthing heavier fawns, citing concerns that this could change the herd's behaviour in the future, making them more dependent on people for nutrition.
This could create a health and safety issue for the park's ten million annual visitors.
Lead author of the paper, Laura Griffin, says people need to stay away from the herd and allow them to avail of their usual food sources around the park.
Ms Griffin highlighted evidence from Nara park in Japan where "if you feed in the long term, these individuals can become very bold. They can come up to people, push them for food, follow them around.
"I know in Nara park they get hundreds of injuries to visitors annually."
Ms Griffin explained that many people needed to be made aware of the negative outcomes of feeding the deer in the park.
"A lot of people that I've interacted with in the park don't realise the negative impact that could be had.
"They think that these interactions are benign or maybe even that they're giving them a treat by offering them a carrot.
"At the end of the day you have to think, it's not just yourself that's doing this it's loads of people everyday and other might see you and think it's a good idea to do it."