Red Deer Stag blackened while cooling off in a peat wallow. XMM 3736-358
Of the six deer species living wild in the United Kingdom today, only the Red (Cervus elaphus) and Roe (Capreolus capreolus) can be called indigenous. The Red deer is the largest mammal in Britain and has been here in some form or other since this island was joined to mainland Europe. Red deer are proven survivors, having struggled through the ice age, a period when their natural woodland habitat was buried under ice and when almost every Briton hunted deer. They overcame the effects of the former and learned to avoid the latter. The ‘deer forests’ of Scotland are far removed as a habitat from that which they would occupy out of preference and yet they adapted in a relatively short period of time to the point where they now have to be managed to prevent over-population. It is because of the necessity for this management that our knowledge of Red deer, as well as all other species, now becomes so important. These notes deal specifically with Cervus elaphus scoticus, one common subspecies that can be found in a number of areas throughout Britain and Ireland. The Cervidae family has been evolving since the early Miocene era about 20 million years ago, with the actual Cervus genus really becoming recognizable during the Pliocene era 12 million years ago. It should be noted that in this pre-Ice Age era, continents were still one land mass and this is probably why the genus has such a wide distribution. Red deer in what is now the United Kingdom survived the Ice Age and there was a large population in heavily wooded post-glacial Britain. As the human population expanded, so the need for food increased and Red deer became a favoured quarry. The success of the species since those days has been closely linked to the fortunes and favours of man. On the one hand man progressively removed the natural predators (bear, lynx, and wolf); but on the other, has hunted deer for food or for sport. It should be recognized that it is hunting that has ensured the survival of the species.
Size: 3572px × 5378px
Location: Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands. Scotland. United Kingdom.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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