A wild deer that bemused drivers by wandering along one of Sydney’s major arterial thoroughfares before dawn has been captured and euthanised at Taronga Zoo.

Taronga Zoo Sydney senior veterinarian, Larry Vogelnest was called in by police to help after a driver spotted the creature on an Anzac Bridge off-ramp before dawn on Thursday.

Initial attempts to catch the deer were unsuccessful and it was tracked through the city until it was corralled in a rail corridor near Central Station around 8.30am, police said.

The deer was tranquillised before RSPCA officers loaded it into a van and took, it under police, escort, to the zoo for assessment.

“Health checks determined it was a wild female adult deer that had sustained multiple injuries and was underweight and the decision was made to humanely euthanise her,” a statement from the said.

The incident comes just weeks after two deer were spotted roaming around Sydney’s inner west last month. One of those had to be euthanised by the RSPCA.