A deer has been spotted by astonished residents on Sydney's upper north shore, as the wild animal continues to encroach on the city's suburbs in greater numbers.

The deer was photographed by a resident peering through a fence at a sports oval on Kissing Point Road in Turramurra last Monday evening.

The photo shows the deer's antlers rising above the oval's chain link fence.

In a post on a Turramurra Facebook group, another resident said two highway patrol officers had visited his home on the same day, looking for the deer after it had been spotted near the Comenarra Parkway.

Feral deer numbers have exploded across Australia over the past few decades, with the increase described by the Invasive Species Council as the country's worst emerging animal pest problem.

Speaking in March durin

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