Fallow Deer

Common Name: Fallow Deer

Family Name: Cervidae

Status: Introduced, Not Protected

Scientific Name: Dama Dama

Shoulder Height: 92cm

Weight: 75kg

Lifespan: 14 years

Gestation: 230 days

Young: 1 per year​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Weaned: (pre-rut) 3 to 4 months, (post-rut) 7 - 8 months​

Background: Fallow deer are from Mediterranean Europe.

Breeding: Fallow deer have distinct breeding seasons and give birth during the spring.

Impacts: Agricultural production by eating pasture, crops and forestry saplings and damaging fences and infrastructure. Autumn marks the ‘rut’ or breeding season for feral deer, bringing increased risks to people, livestock, and the environment. During this time, male deer (bucks) become highly aggressive as they search for mates. They clash with rivals, damage trees, churn up paddocks, and wallow in waterways, causing serious environmental degradation. They can also potentially carry foot-and-mouth disease and parasites that can be transmitted to livestock and can also pose a risk to human health through zoonotic diseases like leptospirosis.

Chital and Fallow deer are similar in appearance, however, Chital deer have a striking white upper throat and Fallow deer have a white heart shaped marking on its rump surrounded by a black or brown border.​

Fallow deer are distinct from other deer species due to having palmate (broad and flattened) antlers.