16 Sep2022
Fallow deer
Common name: Fallow deer
Scientific name: Dama dama
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Nutrition: Grass, leaves, sprouts, fruits and some types of mushrooms.
Features: The fallow deer has a spotted mantle which, during spring-summer, is reddish-brown with a blackish stripe on the back. The flanks and the back are dotted with white spots that persist also in the adulthood. In winter the coloration takes on shades of grey. The horns, named antlers, present only on the male specimens after the first year of age, fall off in April and begin to grow back in summer.
Curiosity: The fallow deer is an invasive species hailing from Turkey and widespread in Europe and in Italy from the Ancient Romans and the Phoenicians.
2 Probably introduced
3 Introduced in ancient times
4 Introduced in recent times
Allocation:
Siberia, USA, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii, South Africa, Canada, Italy
