Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Artiodactyla
• Family: Cervidae
• Subfamily: Cervinae
• Genus: Dama
• Species: Dama dama

Geographic Range

Since the last glaciation, fallow deer have had a natural range in southern European regions, Asia Minor, along the
Mediterranean Sea, and possibly in northern Africa and Ethiopia. They have been widely introduced to 38 countries
in North and South America, the Leeward Islands, Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.
(Feldhamer et al. 1998; Nowak 1999).

Physical Characteristics

Body Length: 1.30-1.75 m / 4.26-5.74 ft.
Shoulder Height: 90-100 cm / 2.95-3.28 ft.
Tail Length: 15-23 cm / 5.9-9.1 in.
Mass: 30-80 kg (avg. 44-67 kg)/ 66-176 lbs (avg. 97-147 lbs).

Two subspecies of fallow deer are distinguished: Dama dama dama (European fallow deer) and Dama dama
mesopotamica (Persian fallow deer).

The body mass of free-ranging adult males is from 46 to 80 kg with an average of 67 kg, and the mass of adult
females is from 30 to 50 kg with an average of 44 kg. The head and body length is 1.3 to 1.75 meters, tail length
is 150 to 230 mm, and the shoulder height of males is generally 0.9 to 1.0 meters with the females slightly smaller.
The forelegs of Dama dama are usually shorter than the hind legs; as a result, the line of the back is elevated
posteriorly. The "Adam's apple" (larynx) is prominent in males.

Palmate, multi-point antlers, usually found only in males, also distinguish Dama dama from all other deer. They range
in length from 50 to 70 cm. The antlers are usually shed annually in April and the new ones are regrown and free of
velvet by August, until the fifth or sixth year. Females are generally without antlers.

Dama dama have the most variable pelage coloration (white, menil, common, and black) of any species of deer.
Typically, the pelage is darker on the dorsal surface of the body and lighter on the ventral surface, chest, and lower
legs. Their summer coat is pale brown, smooth, and thin while their winter coat is dark brown and rougher with a
heavy undercoat. As a rule, there are visible white spots on the back and flank, less on the neck, and none on the
head or legs. In general, the darker the coat, the less striking the spots. A black stripe runs dorsally along the nape
of the neck to the tip of the tail. (Feldhamer et al. 1998; Grizmek 1990; Nowak 1999).

Lifespan/Longevity

Fallow deer have an average life span of 20 to 25 years.

Communication and Perception

Fallow deer have a good sense of smell and hearing and very good vision. They communicate through body language,
smells, and vocalizations. Fallow deer have six types of vocalizations: barking, which is an explosive alarm call used by
females; bleating, which is produced by females during parturition or with their young; mewing, given by any deer during
submission postures; peeping, produced by fawns in distress or contacting their mothers; wailing, an intense distress
sound by a fawn older than 2 days; and groaning, produced by rutting males. The most common visual communication
among Dama dama when disturbed is alerting, where they gain an upright stance with their head held vertically and their
body rigid. They may also use different forms of touching, stiff-walking, tail positions, and head positions to communicate.
When responding to a source of disturbance the deer may walk, trot, strut, gallop, or pronk.

Natural History

Food Habits
Fallow deer forage on a variety of vegetation, usually grasses, mast, and browse. Other items in their diet may include
herbs, dwarf shrubs, leaves, buds, shoots, and bark. Their diets are adaptable and depend on season and availability.
Their peak feeding periods are usually at dusk and dawn but they may also forage at intervals throughout the day.
(Feldhamer et al. 1998; Grizmek 1990).

Reproduction
During the breeding period, or rut, males spend most of their time establishing their territory (rut stand) by pawing the
ground to create scrapes where they may urinate, thrashing understory vegetation with their antlers, and by producing
low-pitched groans and grunts. At the onset of the rut, since deer are polygynous, the females also appear at the rut
stand. Males may stop feeding at this time. Many subordinate males unable to establish territories remain around the
edges of the herd, but they are chased away by the rutting male if they enter the territory.

Mating occurs during the rut. Males fight often and violently during the mating season but injuries are rare; their fights
involve a ritual shoving with the antlers that follow fixed rules. When mating, the male approaches the female many times,
sniffing and licking her genital areas in order to determine if she is in estrous. The female responds with a high-pitched
whine and moves away. Eventually the female allows the male to mount.

Fallow deer have a breeding season of approximately 135 days, generally between the months of September and January
in the Northern Hemisphere. The highest percent of fertilization occurs in late October. Males are capable of breeding at
the age of 17 months but do not generally breed until the age of four years unless they live in heavily hunted populations.
Females generally conceive for the first time around 16 months of age. The length of the estrous cycle for females is approximately 24 to 26 days. Females are polyestrous and may cycle up to seven times in one breeding season, but they
usually conceive during their first cycle. Dama dama usually give birth to one fawn after a gestation period of 33 to 35
weeks. The majority of fawns in the Northern Hemisphere are born in early June. Their weight at birth is generally
2 to 4 kg. Full size is attained between 4 to 6 years in females and 5 to 9 years in males. (Feldhamer et al. 1998;
Grizmek 1990; Nowak 1999).

Females often become secretive and try to find hiding places prior to giving birth. The female usually gives birth during
the daily period of least activity. The mother-fawn bond is established immediately after birth when she licks it clean.
The mother does not rejoin the herd immediately after birth. The mother hides the fawn in dense bushes and only returns
to nurse it (every 4 hours for the first 4 months) during the day. Rumination in the fawn does not begin until 2 to 3 weeks
of age. The mother begins weaning the fawn when it is around 20 days old but weaning continues until the fawn is around
7 months old. After 3 to 4 weeks the mother and fawn rejoin a herd of females and their young. After approximately
one year, the young are independent.

Behavior
Adult males are usually solitary. However, at the end of the summer months they may form small bachelor herds of fewer
than 6 and begin joining the female groups by early autumn, the beginning of the rut. In the terminal phase of the rut males
form smaller bachelor groups while females, fawns, and yearlings remain in larger groups of 7 to 14. The smallest female
herds are found during the fawning season.

Fallow deer are active mainly nocturnally and exhibit peak activity periods during dusk and dawn. They lead a shy and
withdrawn existence in the forests. In general, deer are more alert in open areas or in smaller groups; females are usually
more alert than males, especially when their fawn are present. Depending on reproductive status and diet quality, fallow
deer spend most of their time feeding, resting, and moving. Dama dama lift their legs higher than any other species when
they trot. They jump with all four feet in the air and carry their tails erect when fleeing. (Feldhamer et al. 1998; Grizmek
1990; Nowak 1999).

Habitat
Fallow deer live in a variety of climates ranging from cool-humid to warm-dry areas. The habitat they prefer usually is
a combination of vegetation types. They prefer old, deciduous, broad-leaf forests of varying densities interspersed with
grassy areas, but they are also found in mixed forests, broadleaf forests, subalpine vegetation, grasslands, woodlands,
low mountains, scrublands, and savanna. (Feldhamer et al. 1998; Grizmek 1990).

Biomes: savanna or grassland; chaparral; forest; scrub forest; mountains.

Predation

Fallow deer are preyed on by humans and large predators in the areas in which they occur, such as wolves, cougars,
and bears. Their vigilance behaviors and herding helps to protect them from predation.

Ecosystem Roles

Fallow deer impact the plant communities in which they live through browsing.

Economic Importance for Humans

Positive
In Europe fallow deer are the best known and most widespread "park game". Fallow deer are also maintained in
captivity for their antler velvet or for commercial production of meat. Since they are easy to breed, they are present
in almost all of the larger zoos. In addition, fallow deer are raised on large, fenced, infertile meadows as domestic
animals. (Grizmek 1990; Nowak 1999).

Negative
Collision with fallow deer occasionally cause motor-vehicle accidents. (Grizmek 1990).

Conservation

Status: no special status

Dama dama mesopotamica (Persian fallow deer) is considered the rarest and least known mammal of its size. In 1955
the residual population was endangered by degradation of their habitat, and by animal and human enemies. In 1957,
efforts to preserve and aid breeding of this species were undertaken in the Opel Animal Preserve in Kronberg, Germany,
and Dama dama mesopotamica was placed under complete protection in Iran. In the late 1970's this wild population
was found to be well protected and increasing in number. By 1988, however, the last wild population seemed to have
disappeared. The species in its natural environment remains endangered. They are being reintroduced in northern Israel.
Currently there are more than 80 in the wild (Grizmek 1990; Saltz 1998, Nowak 1999).

References

1990. Grizmek's Encyclopedia of Mammals Vol. 5. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co..

Feldhamer, G., K. Farris-Renner, C. Barker. Dec. 27, 1988. Mammalian Species No. 317, pp. 1-8. The American Society of Mammalogists.

Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World, Sixth Edition, Volume II. Baltimore & London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Saltz, D. 1998. Anim. Cons.: 245-252.

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