Deer are the
ruminant mammals forming the
family Cervidae. They include for example
Moose,
Red Deer,
Reindeer,
Roe and
Chital. Animals from related families within the
order Artiodactyla (even-toed
ungulates) are often also considered to be deer – these include
muntjac and
water deer. Male deer of all species but the Chinese
Water deer and female reindeer grow and shed new
antlers each year. In this they differ from permanently
horned animals such as
antelope; these are in the same order as deer and may bear a superficial resemblance. The
musk deer of Asia and
Water Chevrotain (or Mouse Deer) of tropical African and Asian forests are not usually regarded as true deer and form their own families,
Moschidae and
Tragulidae, respectively.
he word "deer" was originally quite broad in meaning, but became more specific over time. In
Middle English der (
O.E. dēor) meant a wild animal of any kind (as opposed to
cattle, which then meant any domestic livestock, from the idea of ownership and related to
chattle and
capital).
[1] This general sense gave way to the modern sense by the end of the Middle English period, around 1500. Cognates of English "deer" in several other languages still have the general sense of "animal" – for example
German Tier,
Dutch dier, and
Scandinavian djur,
dyr,
dýr. "Deer" is the same in the plural as in the singular.
For most deer the male is called a
buck and the female is a
doe, but the terms vary with dialect, and especially according to the size of the species. For many larger deer the male is a
stag and the female a
hind, while for other larger deer the same words are used as for
cattle:
bull and
cow. Terms for young deer vary similarly, with that of most being called a
fawn and that of the larger species
calf; young of the smallest kinds may be a
kid. A group of deer of any kind is a
herd.The
adjective of relation pertaining to deer is
cervine; like the family name "
Cervidae" this is from
Latin:
cervus, "deer".
The word '
hart' is an old alternative word for "stag", especially in a (British)
Medieval hunting context.
Deer are widely distributed, and
hunted, with indigenous representatives in all continents except Antarctica and Australia, though Africa has only one native species, the
Red Deer, confined to the
Atlas Mountains in the northwest of the continent.
Deer live in a variety of
biomes ranging from
tundra to the
tropical rainforest. While often associated with forests, many deer are
ecotone species that live in transitional areas between forests and thickets (for cover) and prairie and savanna (open space). The majority of large deer species inhabit temperate mixed deciduous forest, mountain mixed coniferous forest, tropical seasonal/dry forest, and savanna habitats around the world. Clearing open areas within forests to some extent may actually benefit deer populations by exposing the
understory and allowing the types of grasses, weeds, and herbs to grow that deer like to eat. Additionally, access to adjacent croplands may also benefit deer. However, adequate forest or brush cover must still be provided for populations to grow and thrive.
Small species of
brocket deer and
pudús of Central and South America, and
muntjacs of Asia generally occupy dense forests and are less often seen in open spaces, with the possible exception of the
Indian Muntjac. There are also several species of deer that are highly specialized, and live almost exclusively in mountains, grasslands, swamps, and "wet" savannas, or riparian corridors surrounded by deserts. Some deer have a circumpolar distribution in both North America and Eurasia. Examples include the
caribou that live in Arctic tundra and taiga (boreal forests) and
moose that inhabit
taiga and adjacent areas. Huemul Deer (
taruca and
Chilean Huemul) of South America's
Andes fill an ecological niche of the
ibex or
Wild Goat, with the fawns behaving more like goat kids.
The highest concentration of large deer species in temperate North America lies in the Canadian Rocky Mountain and Columbia Mountain Regions between Alberta and British Columbia where all five North American deer species (
White-tailed deer,
Mule deer,
Caribou,
Elk, and
Moose) can be found. This region has several clusters of national parks including
Mount Revelstoke National Park,
Glacier National Park (Canada),
Yoho National Park, and
Kootenay National Park on the British Columbia side, and
Banff National Park,
Jasper National Park, and
Glacier National Park (U.S.) on the Alberta and Montana sides. Mountain slope habitats vary from moist coniferous/mixed forested habitats to dry subalpine/pine forests with alpine meadows higher up. The foothills and river valleys between the mountain ranges provide a mosaic of cropland and deciduous parklands. The rare woodland caribou have the most restricted range living at higher altitudes in the subalpine meadows and alpine tundra areas of some of the mountain ranges. Elk and Mule Deer both migrate between the alpine meadows and lower coniferous forests and tend to be most common in this region. Elk also inhabit river valley bottomlands, which they share with White-tailed deer. The White-tailed deer have recently expanded their range within the foothills and river valley bottoms of the Canadian Rockies owing to conversion of land to cropland and the clearing of coniferous forests allowing more deciduous vegetation to grow up the mountain slopes. They also live in the aspen parklands north of Calgary and Edmonton, where they share habitat with the
moose. The adjacent
Great Plains grassland habitats are left to herds of
Elk,
American Bison, and
pronghorn antelope.
The
Eurasian Continent (including the Indian Subcontinent) boasts the most species of deer in the world, with most species being found in Asia. Europe, in comparison, has lower diversity in plant and animal species. However, many national parks and protected reserves in Europe do have populations of
Red Deer,
Roe Deer, and
Fallow Deer. These species have long been associated with the continent of Europe, but also inhabit
Asia Minor, the
Caucasus Mountains, and Northwestern
Iran. "European" Fallow Deer historically lived over much of Europe during the Ice Ages, but afterwards became restricted primarily to the
Anatolian Peninsula, in present-day
Turkey. Present-day Fallow deer populations in Europe are a result of historic man-made introductions of this species first to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, then eventually to the rest of Europe. They were initially park animals that later escaped and reestablished themselves in the wild. Historically, Europe's deer species shared their deciduous forest habitat with other herbivores such as the extinct
tarpan (forest horse), extinct
aurochs (forest ox), and the endangered
wisent (European bison). Good places to see deer in Europe include the
Scottish Highlands, the Austrian
Alps, and the wetlands between Austria, Hungary, and Czech Republic. Some fine National Parks include
Doñana National Park in Spain, the
Veluwe in the Netherlands, the
Ardennes in Belgium, and
Białowieża National Park of Poland. Spain, Eastern Europe, and the
Caucasus Mountains still have virgin forest areas that are not only home to sizable deer populations but also for other animals that were once abundant such as the wisent,
Eurasian Lynx,
Spanish lynx, wolves, and
Brown Bears.
The highest concentration of large deer species in temperate Asia occurs in the mixed deciduous forests, mountain coniferous forests, and taiga bordering North Korea, Manchuria (Northeastern China), and the Ussuri Region (Russia). These are among some of the richest deciduous and coniferous forests in the world where one can find
Siberian Roe Deer,
Sika Deer,
Elk, and
Moose. Asian Caribou occupy the northern fringes of this region along the Sino-Russian border.
Deer such as the
Sika Deer,
Thorold's deer,
Central Asian Red Deer, and
Elk have historically been farmed for their antlers by
Han Chinese,
Turkic peoples,
Tungusic peoples,
Mongolians, and
Koreans. Like the
Sami people of Finland and
Scandinavia, the
Tungusic peoples,
Mongolians, and
Turkic peoples of Southern Siberia, Northern Mongolia, and the Ussuri Region have also taken to raising semi-domesticated herds of Asian Caribou.
The highest concentration of large deer species in the tropics occurs in Southern Asia in Northern India's Indo-Gangetic Plain Region and Nepal's Terai Region. These fertile plains consist of tropical seasonal moist deciduous, dry deciduous forests, and both dry and wet savannas that are home to
Chital,
Hog Deer,
Barasingha, Indian
Sambar, and
Indian Muntjac. Grazing species such as the endangered
Barasingha and very common
Chital are gregarious and live in large herds. Indian
Sambar can be gregarious but are usually solitary or live in smaller herds.
Hog Deer are solitary and have lower densities than Indian Muntjac. Deer can be seen in several national parks in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka of which
Kanha National Park,
Dudhwa National Park, and
Chitwan National Park are most famous. Sri Lanka's
Wilpattu National Park and
Yala National Park have large herds of Indian Sambar and Chital. The Indian sambar are more gregarious in Sri Lanka than other parts of their range and tend to form larger herds than elsewhere.
The Chao Praya River Valley of Thailand was once primarily tropical seasonal moist deciduous forest and wet savanna that hosted populations of
Hog Deer, the now-extinct
Schomburgk's Deer, the
Eld's Deer, Indian Sambar, and
Indian Muntjac. Both the
Hog Deer and
Eld's Deer are rare, whereas Indian Sambar and
Indian Muntjac thrive in protected national parks such as
Khao Yai.
Many of these South Asian and Southeast Asian deer species also share their habitat with various
herbivores such as
Asian Elephants, various Asian rhinoceros species, various antelope species (such as
nilgai,
Four-horned Antelope,
blackbuck, and
Indian gazelle in India), and wild oxen (such as
Wild Asian Water Buffalo,
gaur,
banteng, and
kouprey). How different herbivores can survive together in a given area is each species have different food preferences, although there may be some overlap.
Australia has six
introduced species of deer that have established sustainable wild populations from
acclimatisation society releases in the 19th century. These are
Fallow Deer,
Red Deer,
Sambar Deer,
Hog Deer,
Rusa deer, and
Chital. Red Deer introduced into New Zealand in 1851 from English and Scottish stock were domesticated in
deer farms by the late 1960s and are common farm animals there now. Seven other species of deer were introduced into New Zealand but none are as widespread as Red Deer.
