Fallow deer
(Dama dama)
Fallow deer are the most commonly seen in the New Forest National Park, and it is estimated that there are now up to 1,500 on the Crown lands. Although not a native species, they have been present since Norman times and have the longest continuous lineage of any deer species in the forest.
Fallow deer are smaller than red deer and are mainly chestnut brown in summer, more grey in winter, and usually with an abundance of white spots, although the colour ranges from black through various browns to white. Their most characteristic feature is the palmate (partially flattened) antlers in the mature male. The males are known as ‘bucks’, the females as ‘does’, and their young as ‘fawns’. The word fallow means pale-coloured.
Fallow deer gather in herds and they feed in mature deciduous woodland, particularly at the time of the autumn mast crop and in winter when their diet includes a greater proportion of woody browse. They can also be seen grazing on open land such as woodland clearings, grassy rides and open forest habitats.
The New Forest was William the Conqueror’s first hunting forest in England, and the hunting of fallow bucks took place for over 900 years until it was outlawed in 1997.
