Fallow Deer’s; scientifically know as Dama Dama is named 'buck' if male and 'doe' if female. Fallow Deer’s are substantially smaller than a Red Deer and they belong to the Cervidae family. They are not under-threat for extinction. This breed of deer lives across the European continent in UK it is most common in Ireland. It tends to live in low land areas as it prefers to live near woodlands as this terrain suits their living condition need like source of food and shelter. Fallow Deer’s are herbivores meaning they graze on grassy areas and at times they are known to eat leaves, fruits and herbs. 'Bucks' normally live less than 8 year but in captivity they have been up to 20 years. The average adult height for a Buck is 84cm -94cm at shoulder height and they weight 46- 94 kg. Female’s average adult height is 73cm - 91cm shoulder height and weight on average of 35 kg- 56 kg. The appearance of a Fallow Deer is spotted coat but with some of these Deer’s are hard to see. The best time to spot a Fallow Deer is in the mid October time. With this animal you can go quite up close without them attacking you, if they are scared or cautious they would flee to a safer distance but wouldn't disappear from the scene. Although if you go up close to a Fallow Deer in rutting grounds the Bucks will be quite dangerous. Rutting grounds is where a male Fallow would call a female in order to mate this is normally starts in mid-September and ends in October. Normally a feud would occur if two male Fallow Deer’s are both in the same rutting ground and they would fight with their antlers until one backs off. A doe would give birth by the following May or June the new born Fallow is called a Fawn. Fallow Deer’s best known predator is actually us, the humans this is the main way of human impact on their lives. In the past the main predators were wolves but now the Irish wolves are extinct. Now there is no wild animal hunting this animal the population of them has grown massively over the past couple of centuries. Fallow deer are protected under the Wildlife Act, but are classed as a quarry species, with a hunting season. A license is needed for hunting or culling deer, culling means to take an animal from its herd.



Fallow Deer