The Red deer
Red deer are the largest land mammals in Britain.
Life span
Up to 25 years.
Statistics
Shoulder height: 110-120cm, Weight: up to 225kg.
Physical Description
Red deer have a reddish-brown coat, which changes to a brownish-grey in the winter. They have a creamy patch on their rump and a short, beige tail. Only the males carry antlers, which they lose in February to April. They grow new antlers in August.
Distribution
They range from W Europe, NW Africa, Asia to W China and NW America. Red deer have also been introduced to New Zealand. They live in open deciduous woodland, plains, mountains and moorland.
Diet
Red deer are browsers, and feed on grasses, herbs, leaves, buds, shoots and bark.
Behaviour
Red deer are active both day and night, but activity peaks at dawn and dusk.
Males carry out ritualised fighting to minimise the risk of serious injury. They begin by emitting a powerful roar that echoes through the forest. This often eliminates the younger males, who lack the deep, powerful bellow attained by experienced males.
After roaring, the larger remaining males size each other up, and if antler and body size are comparable, they battle for the females with their hardened antlers. The antlers lock and each male attempts to forcefully push the other away. The strongest and most powerful male wins and secures a harem (group) of females for mating.
Reproduction
After a gestation period of 33-34 weeks, the female gives birth to one calf, and very rarely has twins. The calf is weaned after 9-12 months and reaches sexual maturity after one and a half years.
Conservation status
Red deer are not considered to be endangered in the UK, and in some areas, they are over-populated and may be culled. Other red deer subspecies are listed on the 2000 Red List. Shous (C.e.affinis), Alashan wapiti (C.e. alashanicus), MacNeill's red deer (C.e. macneilli) and Tibetan red deer (C.e. wallichi) are classified as Data Deficient. Atlas deer (C.e. barbarus) are classified as Lower Risk and Bactrian deer (C.e. bactrianus) are listed as Vulnerable. Corsican red deer (C.e. corsicanus), Kashmir red deer (C.e. hanglu) and Yarkand deer (C.e. yarkandensis) are listed as Endangered.
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