Red deer
The red deer (Cervus elaphus) is related to other deer such as elk and fallow deer. The roar of the red deer is one of the most powerful sounds of the Nordic lands.
A stunning animal with an impressive crown
The red deer is a large deer, second only to the elk. During the summer, the red deer's coat is often reddish-brown, while in winter it's more grayish-brown. Unlike the fallow deer's black tail, the red deer's tail is beige in color. Only the male animals have horns. The fully developed horns are made up of a magnificent crown with 10–18 spines.
The mighty call
During the autumn mating season, males use their roar to gather a large flock of females to defend against other males. The loud roar can be heard from afar. It not only attracts does, it also serves as a show of strength. The horns are also used as a show of strength between males. Before the rut, the males' necks swell and form a long-haired dark brown mane.
Adult females live in flocks
Outside the mating season, closely related females move in small groups with their fawns and yearlings, while males often walk alone. The fawns, like many other deer, are brown with white spots in their first months of life. The first few days, the fawn mostly lies hidden and is only visited by the female to be fed milk, cleaned, and moved to a new place. At a few weeks of age, the fawn starts following the female most of the time.
Likes to swim
Red deer are highly adaptable, but thrive where there's a mix of deciduous forest and open land, preferably close to water as they like to swim. They like to lie down in a wet hollow to cool off in the mud, which they also have the opportunity to do here in the park.
Quick facts
Food: Herbs, grasses, shoots, buds, bark and also crops
Weight: Up to 250 kg
Height: Up to 150 cm
Mating season: Autumn
Young: Usually 1 fawn born in May–June
Lifespan: Up to 20 years
A unique subspecies of the red deer is threatened
The red deer almost became extinct
The red deer has been present in Sweden since the Ice Age, but the population declined in the 18th and 19th centuries due to hunting, shrinking habitats and competition with other grazing domestic animals. In the end, there were only around 50 animals left in the county of Skåne.
Sweden has a unique red deer
This small remnant of the species that stayed in Skåne forms the basis of a now world-unique subspecies of red deer found in southern Skåne and on the table mountains Halleberg and Hunneberg. They are the only animals of the species Cervus elaphus elaphus in the world that have avoided mixing with other subspecies. These small groups are classified as endangered.
Risk of mixing
As the species reproduces and disperses slowly and the males mature late, misidentifications during selective hunting can have negative consequences for these threatened groups. But the biggest threat to the subspecies is the risk of mixing with other strains of red deer.
Where do you draw the line?
Does a disappeared sub-species make any difference? No one knows for sure. However, we know for sure that having a varied and diverse range of species is necessary for a stable ecosystem. And stable ecosystems are in turn necessary for a sustainable future.
Variation for survival
It's important to have a variety of species and habitats. It's also important that there's genetic variation within each species. The more similar all individuals of a species are to each other, the more the risk of total extinction increases when new diseases or other changes in the environment occur.