Deer of Great Britain
Six species of deer are living wild in Great Britain:[1] Scottish red deer, roe deer, fallow deer, sika deer, Reeves's muntjac, and Chinese water deer.[2] Of those, Scottish red and roe deer are native and have lived in the isles throughout the Holocene. Fallow deer have been reintroduced twice, by the Romans and the Normans, after dying out in the last ice age. The other three are escaped or released alien species. Moose were also formerly native to Britain, before dying out during the mid-Holocene, over 5,000 years ago.[3] The comparably sized Irish elk, which had the largest antlers of any deer, was formerly also native to Britain, until becoming regionally extinct some 12,000 years ago.[4] The eastern roe deer (Capreolus pygargus), also known as the Siberian roe deer, was also introduced to Britain, but has since been extirpated.
Native
- Scottish red deer - (subspecies)
- Roe deer
Introduced
- Fallow deer (was previously native to Britain during the Pleistocene[5])
- Sika deer
- Reeves's muntjac
- Water deer
Reintroduced
- Elk/moose - reintroduction in Scotland failed due to lack of planning (will likely be reattempted in the future), a reintroduction is planned for England.
- Reindeer – free-roaming domestic herd
Extinct – native
Extinct – introduced
Gallery
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Scottish red deer
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Fallow deer
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Sika deer (summer)
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Sika deer (winter)
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Chinese water deer (subspecies)
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Reindeer (extirpated, free-roaming herd)
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European elk (known as moose in America) – extirpated)
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Irish elk (extinct)
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Eastern roe deer (Siberian roe deer - extirpated)
References
- ^ Walker, M.D. Distribution of British Deer. British Naturalist.
- ^ "The Deer Initiative — Species". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
- ^ Schmölcke, U.; Zachos, F.E. (November 2005). "Holocene distribution and extinction of the moose (Alces alces, Cervidae) in Central Europe". Mammalian Biology. 70 (6): 329–344. Bibcode:2005MamBi..70..329S. doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2005.08.001.
- ^ Lister, Adrian M.; Stuart, Anthony J. (January 2019). "The extinction of the giant deer Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach): New radiocarbon evidence". Quaternary International. 500: 185–203. Bibcode:2019QuInt.500..185L. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2019.03.025.
- ^ Baker, K. H.; Gray, H. W. I.; Lister, A. M.; Spassov, N.; Welch, A. J.; Trantalidou, K.; De Cupere, B.; Bonillas, E.; De Jong, M.; Çakırlar, C.; Sykes, N.; Hoelzel, A. R. (2024-02-12). "Ancient and modern DNA track temporal and spatial population dynamics in the European fallow deer since the Eemian interglacial". Scientific Reports. 14 (1): 3015. Bibcode:2024NatSR..14.3015B. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-48112-6. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 10861457. PMID 38346983.