Wild Wednesday - Fallow deer | Latest news

Originally native to Asia, fallow deer were introduced to Britain by the Normans around the 11th century. They subsequently escaped from deer parks and were released into forests. Today, they are widespread and the most common deer we have in England, with an estimated population of 95,000. 

Historically classified as Cervus dama, the Latin meaning of cervus is 'deer' and dama 'antelope'. The word “fallow” derives from the Old English fealu, which means 'brownish yellow'.

These deer have a short red-brown coloured coat with white spots in the summer with a dark line running the length of its back and in winter a grey-brown coat with fainter spots. The males are known as bucks and have antlers for much of the year, these vary in colour and are shed in the spring. A female deer is known as a doe.

In the wild their lifespan ranges from 12 to 16 years and the oldest fallow deer in captivity was 20 years old.

They are active throughout day and night, but you are more likely to see them at dawn or dusk, in deciduous (shed leaves) woodland and grassy open spaces that have shrubby undergrowth for both shelter and feeding. 

Their diet consists of grasses and bramble, and during the autumn and winter they eat bark and shrubs.

Breeding season, known as ‘rutting,’ is in October, with a calf born in about 8 months, typically during May/June. The calf will stay with the doe for the first year. 

Read more here:  Fallow deer | The Wildlife Trusts