Red Deer

Red deer are Britain’s largest native land mammal and, together with the roe deer, are our only native deer species. All other deer species have been introduced. When ancient Britain was covered in woodland, red deer were widespread and vital to the survival of early man, providing meat, skins and antlers which were fashioned into tools.

Red deer are essentially woodland creatures but with centuries of forest clearance they have adapted to more open habitats. For much of the year red deer live in small single sex herds, but in the autumn mating season, know as the rut, mature stags leave their bachelor groups in search of hinds (females). A stag will usually round up and lay claim to a group of hinds, a harem, which he will defend from other males, using his antlers to fight off challenges from other males. In all deer species (except the reindeer) only the male has antlers. Antlers are shed each spring and immediately a new set starts to grow, taking 16 weeks to reach full size in August. You can see and touch a set of antlers shed by one of our stags in our Visitor Centre.