More than 4 1/2 hours after a deer was first spotted outside Union Station, police tranquilized, Tasered and safely captured the intrepid animal.

Police cruisers blocked off a small greenspace at the corner of Chestnut and Edward Sts., where the deer was hiding in the shadow of a multi-storey commercial building.

After a Toronto Zoo veterinarian fired the tranquilizer dart, the deer jumped up, startled by officers carrying large nets, and leapt over police tape onto Chestnut St. There, officers Tasered the animal and pinned it with a net before lifting it into the back of an Animal Services vehicle.

Immediately after the capture, dozens of onlookers who had gathered, disappeared.

The animal has since been released in a conservation in the city's east end, but no one knows where it came from.

The animal will be watched over by veterinarians and then likely given to the Toronto Zoo, police said. Still, no one knows where it came from.

"Obviously, it made its way from Rouge Valley, Humber Valley," said Supt. Hugh Ferguson. "How? God only knows ... GO Train, maybe."

Half a dozen cruisers, a handful of police officers, the Emergency Task force and a lot of police tape had been guarding the frightened deer in the city's downtown core for much of the morning.

The animal was huddled under some shrubs in the shadow of 123 Edward St., near the Toronto Coach Terminal at Bay and Dundas Sts.

The animal was huddled under some shrubs in the shadow of 123 Edward St., near the Greyhound bus station at Bay and Dundas Sts.

The deer – believed to be a doe – appeared agitated as a group of about 40 people gathered to gawk. Many stopped to snap pictures of the animal before police shooed them away.

The deer does not appear to be injured.

Police held off tranquillizing the animal for much of the morning, waiting for protective fencing or netting to capture it. "He's going to become enraged. It's going to take 5-10 minutes for him to be put under (once he's tranquilized)," said Sgt. Winston Bennett. The deer could travel upwards of a mile within that time frame, he added.

"The last thing the police want to do is spook the already agitated animal." Public safety is the number one priority, he said.

"It's sort of sad, there used to be a lot of green spaces around," said Dr. Irving Feldman, an optometrist in the building, who was heading into work when he saw the commotion.

"But it shouldn't be here, it's really dangerous for them. Police should take it away and put it in a park where it belongs."

The intersection of Edward and Chestnut Sts. was cordoned off. Chestnut was closed from Edward to Dundas, and Edward St. was closed from Centre Ave. to Elizabeth St.

According to a Greyhound employee, buses departing from Toronto Bus Depot, just steps away from the deer, were being re-routed around Edward St.

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Mike Gavros is an electrician working on a building steps away from where the deer was resting. He and several co-workers stood around looking.

"I've been working in the downtown core for 20 years, I've never seen a deer. The weirdest thing I've seen is an opossum."

Gavros, who is also a recreational deer hunter, said it's very rare to see a doe during the day because they are often resting and hiding.