Find out more about our services
The red deer, or Cervus elaphus, is the UK’s largest land mammal, and royalty of the country’s woodlands. Common in the Scottish Highlands, the red deer is also found in the Lake District, Exmoor, the New Forest and Thetford Forest.The deer are easy to spot on open lands and are a regular sight for visitors in the valleys of Scotland. Although, it’s better to visit them in zoos or deer parks. Deers of the wild are a lot less accustomed to human sightings, so it is better to do so in a controlled environment.
Towards the end of the 18th century, deers had become a rare sight due to both hunting and the destruction of woodland. However, numbers have grown considerably over the last century, with habitat changes and escapes from deer parks to thank.
Red deer have red-brown fur with a short tail and cream rump. They also have a large head with wide-spaced brown eyes.
A male red deer (a ‘stag’) is best known for its majestic, branched antlers, which can reach a breadth of one metre. They may look impenetrable, but they are actually covered in a soft skin called 'velvet', and consist of sensitive blood vessels. The antler-growing process is energy sapping and can be distressing for the deer.
Antlers start to sprout at birth. Generally, they begin with two and can develop up to sixteen. Antlers then shred and re-grow every year.
Female red deer (‘hinds’) do not have antlers and are more slender than males.
The deer primarily eat grass, although they will also make plants a part of their diet.
From September to November, then begins the battle for breeding. Stags will attempt to intimidate their male rivals by roaring fiercely.
After mating with a dominant stag hinds will give birth to a calf, usually in late spring or early summer. Calves are born with a spotted coat which camouflages them from predators. Once born they hibernate in vegetation, only occasionally being visited by their mother to suckle.
Outside the ‘rut period’ (the breeding season), males and females live apart. In an open habitat, hinds and their calves will gather in large herds, with stags living in loose bachelor groups. However, deer are less social in woodland environments, typically living in smaller groups comprising of a female and her young.
The absence of large predators in the UK means red deer are rarely hunted. As such, the total number of deer in the UK is thought to be at a 1,000-year high. However, the young are at risk of being taken by foxes and golden eagles.
One risk for red deer is the hybridisation with ‘sika’ deer (Cervus nippon). In the Lake District, in particular, populations are almost entirely comprised of red-sika hybrids. It’s not outlandish to imagine that pure red deer may only survive on some of the Scottish islands.
Their lifespan is up to 20 years, but few deer live longer than 16 years.
Back to Articles