European Fallow Deer - North America Introduced | Online Record Book Preview

Dama dama

Gamo (Sp), Damhirsch, Damwild (G), Daim (F). "Fallow" is from the Old English fealu, a light yellowish-brown color.

DESCRIPTION (male) Shoulder height 36 inches (91 cm). Weight 140-200 pounds (64-91 kg). Females are smaller.

European fallow deer have more color variations than any other deer, the four principal ones being: (1) common, spotted or brown- summer coat of rich brown with many white spots and lighter underparts, changing to dark gray-brown in winter with spots barely visible; (2) menil--pale fawn with white spots; (3) white (but not albino); and (4) black--not actually black, but very dark brown. There are also many intermediate color variations. Lighter-colored males will have antler velvet that is gray, cream or pink, whereas dark-colored bucks have dark velvet. The antlers have brow and trez tines (bez tines are usually absent) and are well-palmated at the top, with a number of tines coming off the rear edge of the palmation. Males have a prominent Adam's apple.

DISTRIBUTION Fallow deer are found in the wild in at least eight U.S. states and in British Columbia, Canada. Also on private ranches, mainly in Texas, but also in many other states.

REMARKS Fossils reveal that fallow deer, or something very similar, lived in many parts of Europe during the Pleistocene, mostly (if not entirely) dying out during the last glaciation when most of Europe was covered by ice. Modern fallow deer are believed to have originated in the Mediterranean region of southern Europe, the island of Rhodes, and Anatolia (Asian Turkey), and to have been introduced (or reintroduced?) in many other parts of Europe by the Romans, or perhaps by the earlier Phoenicians.

Fallow deer were first introduced in North America on George Washington's estate at Mount Vernon, Virginia. They have since been introduced in many other places in the United States and in British Columbia, Canada, and are more widely distributed than any other alien hoofed mammal in North America. They have also been introduced in other parts of the world, so that they now are found in the wild in 38 countries on six continents. "Apart from rats, mice and feral domestic animals, fallow deer are the world's most widely naturalized animal." (Lever, 1985)

The Persian or Mesopotamian fallow deer (D. mesopotamica), which is a separate species from the European fallow deer, is listed as endangered by the USF&WS (1970) and on Appendix I of CITES (1977).