The European fallow deer (Dama dama), also known as the common fallow deer or simply fallow deer, is a species of deer native to Eurasia. It is one of two living species of fallow deer alongside the Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica). It is historically native to Turkey and possibly the Italian Peninsula, Balkan Peninsula, and the island of Rhodes near Anatolia. During the Pleistocene it inhabited much of Europe, and has been reintroduced to its prehistoric distribution by humans. It has also been introduced to other regions in the world.
Taxonomy
Some taxonomists include the rarer Persian fallow deer as a subspecies (D. d. mesopotamica), with both species being grouped together as the fallow deer, while others treat it as a different species (D. mesopotamica). Fawns are born in spring around and weigh around . Their lifespan is around 12–16 years.
Much variation occurs in the coat colour of the species, with four main variants: common, menil, melanistic, and leucistic – a genuine colour variety, not albinistic. White is the lightest coloured, almost white; common and menil are darker, and melanistic is very dark, sometimes even black (and is easily confused with the sika deer).
- Common: Chestnut coat with white mottles, it is most pronounced in summer with a much darker, unspotted coat in the winter. The light-coloured area around the tail is edged with black. The tail is light with a black stripe.
- Menil: Spots are more distinct than common in summer and no black is seen around the rump patch or on the tail. In winter, spots are still clear on a darker brown coat.
- Melanistic (black): All year the coat is black, shading to greyish-brown. No light-coloured tail patch or spots are seen.
thumb|left|White variants of fallow deer in the [[Beijing Zoo]]
- Leucistic (white, but not albino): Fawns are cream-coloured; adults become pure white, especially in winter. Dark eyes and nose are seen. The coat has no spots.
Most herds consist of the common coat variation, yet animals of the menil coat variation are not rare. The melanistic coat variation is generally rarer, and the white coat variation is very much rarer still, although wild New Zealand herds often have a high melanistic percentage.
thumb|A skeleton of a buck (male) exhibited at the Mammal Gallery in the [[Natural History Museum of Pisa University]]
thumb|A pair of European fallow deer antlers
Only bucks have antlers, which are broad and shovel-shaped (palmate) from three years. In the first two years the antler is a single spike. Their preferred habitat is mixed woodland and open grassland. During the rut, bucks spread out and females move between them; at that time of year fallow deer are relatively ungrouped compared with the rest of the year, when they try to stay together in groups of up to 150.
Agile and fast in case of danger, fallow deer can run at a maximum speed of over short distances. Being naturally less muscular than other cervids such as the roe deer, they are not as fast. Fallow deer can also jump up to high and up to in length.
The diet of the European fallow deer has been described as highly flexible, and able to adapt to local conditions. A 1977 study of European fallow deer in the New Forest of Britain found that European fallow deer were selective mixed feeders, feeding primarily on grass (and to a less extend on herbs and browse) during the spring and summer (March–September), while primarily feeding on acorns and other mast during autumn (from September) until late December, with winter foods including grass as well as shrubs like brambles, bilberry, heather, holly, as well as ivy and coniferous material. thumb|Skeleton of the extinct subspecies Dama dama geiselana
Distribution
During the Last Interglacial (also known as the Eemian) around 130-115,000 years ago and prior, European fallow deer were widely distributed over Europe, occurring as far north as the British Isles. During the Last Glacial Period (115,000-11,700 years ago) the range of the species collapsed due to unfavourable climate conditions, surviving in refugia in Anatolia and probably the Balkans and possibly elsewhere, though the fossil record of their distribution during this time is sparse.
Turkey
Turkey is the only country known to have definitively natural populations of European fallow deer since the Last Glacial Maximum, but populations there (alongside those of the Persian fallow deer, which also formerly occurred in Turkey) have since become endangered and almost fully extirpated. European fallow deer in Anatolia underwent a major population decline due to the spread of agriculture (leading to the deforestation of lowland forests) and hunting, and populations in the Marmara and Aegean regions went extinct by the turn of the 20th century. Other wild populations of Turkish fallow deer survived for longer on islands at Ayvalık Islands Nature Park, Gökova, and Adaköy near Marmaris, but also appear to have died out in recent years. Currently, the only extant wild population of the species known to be undoubtedly natural lives in Düzlerçami Game Reserve in the Mount Güllük-Termessos National Park in southern Turkey, although the area has been largely fenced since, making the population only semi-wild. This population is very few in number and is genetically distinct from other European fallow deer.
A 2024 study suggests that the Turkish populations of fallow deer are ancestral to most fallow deer found throughout Europe as well as introduced populations worldwide. The translocations of fallow deer out of Turkey were facilitated by Roman-era trade networks. The only other refugium found was one in the Balkans, whose surviving descendants are significantly fewer in number.
Native but originally extinct
Southern Balkans
On mainland Greece and some Greek islands, such as Corfu, Kythira, and Thasos, that were connected to mainland due to lower sea level or proximity to land, fallow deer were present during the last ice age. A belief arose that the species was almost extinct in Greece, returning during the Neolithic. During the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age, the species survived on the islands of Corfu and Thasos, appeared on Euboea, and began to be introduced by man to other islands, including Crete, some of the Cyclades, Rhodes, Chios, Lesbos, Samos and Sporades.
Early-historic-period remains have been found in eastern Greece and on the islands of Thasos, Chios, Rhodes and Crete. On the Greek mainland, wild fallow deer survived until the 16th century in northeastern Chalkidiki, until the 19th century in the forests of Mount Olympus, Vermio Mountains, Arakynthos, Evrytania and Boeotia and until the 1910s in Thesprotia. The last individuals were hunted in Acarnania during the 1930s.
In Bulgaria, the autochthonous population of fallow deer is believed to have declined and disappeared after the 9th or 10th centuries, and the species was reintroduced there much more recently. The species remained in European Turkey into the 19th century. A male fallow deer was captured in Thrace in 1977 and translocated to Düzlerçamı, suggesting that a small population existed there at that time. In Albania (possibly in Butrint), the fallow deer seemed to be plentiful during the first half of the 19th century.
A 2024 genetic study suggests that the Balkans served as one of two refugia for fallow deer during the glacial periods, alongside Anatolia. Members of this population were also translocated around Europe during the Iron Age and Roman Empire, but have largely been replaced by Turkish-origin fallow deer (including in their native Balkans) aside from parts of southern Europe. The Balkan fallow deer are thought to represent the ancestors of modern Iberian, Italian, and Rhodes fallow deer, with the Rhodes population dating back to Neolithic translocations. At the entrance to the harbour of Rhodes city, statues of a fallow deer buck and doe now grace the location where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood.
Introduced
Outside of Europe, this species has been introduced to Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, the Comoros, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, Fernando Pó, Israel, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Morocco, New Zealand, Peru, Réunion, São Tomé, the Seychelles, South Africa, Tunisia, and the United States.
Australia
European fallow deer were introduced to Tasmania in 1830 and to mainland Australia in the 1880s. The deer can now be found in all Australian jurisdictions, except Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The European fallow deer is the most widespread and numerous of introduced deer species in Australia. Proper control of deer populations in New South Wales (NSW) was precluded for some years by the classification of these deer as "game animals", as well as being a feral pest species. This led to an explosion in numbers, a vast increase in range in that state, impacts on agricultural production, increased environmental damage, and a dramatic increase in vehicle accidents involving deer. This policy has since been reversed on privately held land only, and on such land the deer is once again only classified as a feral pest species; they remain game animals on public land. The NSW government now asks the public to assist by not transporting or releasing feral deer onto any land, implying that intentional release of deer has been a factor in the vast increase in range in NSW in recent years.
Argentina
The European fallow deer was introduced to Victoria Island in Neuquén Province by billionaire Aaron Anchorena, who intended to increase hunting opportunities. He freed wildlife of European and Asian origin, making them common inhabitants of the island.
Canada
The European fallow deer is listed as an invasive species in the province of British Columbia. The deer have been introduced to and survive on Mayne Island, Galiano Island, James Island, and Sidney Island.
European fallow deer reproduce and maintain herd sizes much greater than the native deer species on these islands and have no predators. The overpopulation of the deer leads to destruction of the endangered Coastal Douglas-fir and Garry oak ecoysystems.
In 2021, the Canadian federal government, local First Nations, and local residents put forward a plan to eradicate the fallow deer population on Sidney Island, a small island in the Salish Sea. In the fall of 2023, the population of European fallow deer was reduced to an estimated 212 animals for the final stage of eradication. In the fall of 2024, Parks Canada paused the eradication project for reassessment. Fallow deer were established in Britain by the fourth century AD. Genetic studies have shown that this population became extinct and the fallow deer was re-introduced from Anatolia prior to the Norman conquest, not introduced from Scilly by the Normans as had previously been believed. Deer from England are a likely source of their re-introduction elsewhere in northern Europe.
European fallow deer are now widespread on the UK mainland and are present in most of England and Wales south of a line drawn from the Wash to the Mersey. Populations in the New Forest and the Forest of Dean are long-standing, and many of the other populations originated from park escapees. They are not quite so widespread in the northern parts of England, but are present in most lowland areas and also in parts of Scotland, principally in Strathtay and around Loch Lomond. According to the British Deer Society distribution survey 2007, they have increased in range since the previous survey in 2000, although the increase in range is not as spectacular as for some of the other deer species.
A significant number of the European fallow deer in the Forest of Dean and in Epping Forest are of the black variety. One particularly interesting population, known as "long-haired fallow deer", inhabit Mortimer Forest on the England/Wales border; a significant part of the population has long body hair with distinct ear tufts.
A historical herd is at Phoenix Park in Ireland, where a herd of 400–450 European fallow deer descends from the original herd introduced in the 1660s. In a 2023 study, this herd was shown to comprise the first wild deer outside of North America to have contracted SARS-CoV-2, raising concerns about a potential natural reservoir arising within European deer herds.
thumb|left|Three of the fallow deer colour variants found at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas
New Zealand
From 1860, European fallow deer were introduced into New Zealand. Significant herds exist in a number of low-altitude forests.
South Africa
European fallow deer are popular in the rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal for hunting purposes, in parts of the Gauteng Province to beautify ranches, and in the Eastern Cape where they were introduced on game farms for the hunting industry because of their exotic qualities. European fallow deer adapted extremely well to the South African environment with access to savanna grasslands, particularly in the cooler climate ranges such as the highveld. They also occur in the western cape.
Sweden
One noted historical herd of European fallow deer is located in the Ottenby nature reserve in Öland, where Charles X Gustav of Sweden erected a dry stone wall some 4 km long to enclose a royal fallow deer herd in the mid-17th century; the herd still exists as of 2006.
United States
European fallow deer have been introduced in parts of the United States. A small feral population exists on one barrier island in Georgia. Fallow deer have also been introduced in Texas, along with many other exotic deer species, where they are often hunted on large game ranches.
In Pennsylvania, European fallow deer are considered livestock, since no feral animals are breeding in the wild. Occasional reports of wild European fallow deer in Pennsylvania and Indiana are generally attributed to escapes from preserves or farms.
A herd of white European fallow deer is located near Argonne National Laboratories in northeastern Illinois.
right|thumb|White European fallow deer near Argonne National Labs in Westmont, Illinois, U.S.
A small herd of 15 mostly white European fallow deer resides at the Belle Isle Nature Zoo on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. Until the turn of the 21st century, this herd had the run of the island; the herd was thereafter confined, with extirpation being the initial goal.
A small herd, believed to be the oldest in the United States, exists in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (LBL) in far western Kentucky and Tennessee. The European fallow deer herd in the LBL "was brought to LBL by the Hillman Land Company in 1918. LBL's herd is believed to be the oldest population of fallow deer in the country, and at one time was the largest. Today, the herd numbers fewer than 150 and hunting of fallow deer is not permitted. Although LBL's wildlife management activities focus on native species, the fallow herd is maintained for wildlife viewing and because of its historical significance."
European fallow deer are present in the Point Reyes National Seashore, California, and Mendocino County near Ridgewood Ranch, west of Redwood Valley, California; some of them are leucistic.
European fallow deer were introduced into Washington State. A population of wild fallow deer still exist on Spieden Island. The deer were introduced in 1969 in an attempt to create an exotic large game hunting resort on the island. The hunting resort was subject of a negative report on the resort's operations by Walter Cronkite and was shut down less than a year later. European fallow deer continue to reproduce and inhabit the island with mouflon and Sika deer. European fallow deer were declared a "deleterious exotic wildlife species" in Washington State in 1992; all escaped fallow deer are considered a public nuisance.
Mating system
European fallow deer are highly dimorphic, polygynous breeders; the breeding season or rut lasts about 135 days. This mating behaviour within the rut most often occurs in leks, where males congregate in small groups on mating territories in which the females' only purpose for visiting these territories is for copulation.
Different populations, environmental variation, size, and even age can determine the type of variation within a European fallow deer mating system, Male rut behaviour includes licking and sniffing around the anus and vulva to determine whether a female is fertile. Most of the detailed research on the ecological characteristics and behaviour of European fallow deer occurs in large blocks of woodland, which means some bias may be present.
Ruts are characterized by males gaining the best territory possible to increase their odds for mating, and are often characterized by the presence of females on stands. These secondary sexual characteristics can have dual functions, which include the attractiveness of males, which females can ultimately choose, and fighting ability of the male. Species that compete using their weapons usually engage with mutual agreement, but if any noticeable asymmetries are seen, such as a broken or lost weapon, this may alter the behaviour of an individual to engage in a fight.
Endurance rivalry
Male fallow deer are highly competitive during the rutting season; successful mating depends mainly on body size and dominance rank. Many factors can determine the seasonal reproductive success of an individual male fallow deer; these factors include body size, which can affect reproduction and survival. Among ungulates, European fallow deer exhibit one of the most outstanding examples of sexual dimorphism, as males are much larger than females. Dominance rank is a good indicator of body size and body mass, but age was not an important factor.