Capreolus capreolus
FACTS AND FIGURES
Recognition: Small deer, reddish brown in summer, grey in winter. Distinctive black moustache stripe, white chin. Appears tail-less with white/cream rump patch which is especially conspicuous when its hairs are puffed out when the deer is alarmed. Males have short antlers, erect with no more than three points.
Height: Average height at shoulder 60-75cm. Males slightly larger than females.
Weight: Adults 10-25kg
Lifespan: The maximum age recorded for wild roe is 16 years, but most die before 7 years.
Diet: Their diet is varied and includes buds and leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs, bramble, rose, ivy, herbs, conifers, ferns, heather and grasses.
GENERAL ECOLOGY
Roe deer are widespread throughout Scotland and much of England, and in many areas they are abundant. They are increasing their range. They are spreading southwards from their Scottish refuge, and northwards and westwards from the reintroduced populations, but are not yet but are not yet established in most of the Midlands or Kent. They have never occurred in Ireland.
They are generally found in open mixed, coniferous or purely deciduous woodland, particularly at edges between woodland and open habitats. Roe deer feed throughout the 24 hours, but are most active at dusk and dawn.
They exist solitary or in small groups, with larger groups typically feeding together during the winter. At exceptionally high densities, herds of 15 or more roe deer can be seen in open fields during the spring and summer. Males are seasonally territorial, from March to August. Young females usually establish ranges close to their mothers; juvenile males are forced to disperse further afield.
The breeding season, known as the rut, is from mid-July to the end of August. During this time males become very aggressive in defending their territories. Behaviour includes barking, chasing, often in circles, fraying (rubbing antlers up and down tree bark) and scent marking young trees. They fight other males by locking antlers and pushing and twisting. Fighting may cause injuries and occasionally one or both may die.
Although the egg is fertilised at the time of mating it does not begin to develop inside the female's uterus until several months later, in early January. The roe deer is the only hoofed animal in which delayed implantation occurs. Females give birth, usually to twins, but sometimes to single kids or triplets, between mid-May and mid-June. The young suckle within a few hours of birth. They are regularly left alone, lying still amongst vegetation. Their coat, dappled for about the first six weeks, helps to camouflage them. If there are twins they are left separately.
By 6-8 weeks old kids usually accompany their mother. They will begin to feed on vegetation at 3-4 weeks and are weaned at 3-4 months but will continue to take milk from the mother into the winter. Males and females reach sexual maturity and will mate at 14 months, although precocious breeding of females is not unknown.
They are controlled by man: many thousands are culled annually. There is some predation of kids by foxes and in Scotland also by golden eagles. Many are injured or killed in traffic accidents.
CONSERVATION
Roe deer have been hunted from prehistoric times. They became extinct in England, Wales and southern Scotland during the 18th century and populations were re-introduced to southern England (Dorset) and East Anglia in the 19th century. As they have become more abundant, they have been treated as "vermin" because of damage to forestry, agriculture and horticulture, and consequently numbers are controlled. Roe deer may now number as many as 500,000, and are increasing.
Since the 1970s there has been an increased interest in exploitation of roe as a game species and for meat. As a result they are now covered by various Acts of Parliament which impose close seasons (when deer may not be hunted), firearms restrictions and controls on poaching.
FREQUENT QUESTIONS
Do males keep their antlers throughout the year?
No. Antlers are cast from late October to early January. A new pair begins to grow straight away – roe are unusual in growing their antlers during the winter months. They are covered in furry "velvet" (skin which supplies blood to the growing antler bone) and are fully grown by March. Velvet is shed from April onwards.
What do I do if I find a young kid apparently abandoned?
Leave it alone and go away from the area; it is part of the normal behaviour for the mother to leave her kids concealed while she goes off to feed. She will return to them later if they are left undisturbed and no-one is nearby.
Where can I watch Roe deer?
Unlike other species of deer in Britain, their territorial behaviour means that roe are not kept in deer parks, so to watch them you have to see them in the wild. Early morning and late evening are good times to see them feeding on grasslands just outside their woodland cover. Ask the advice of local naturalists, natural history societies, the county Wildlife Trust or a local museum. Many roe habitats have public access, e.e. Forestry Commission woodlands, but on private land permission might be required from the owner.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Fawcett, J.K. (1997) Roe Deer. The Mammal Society, London and The Deer Society, Fordingbridge.
Harris, S. & Yalden, D.W. (2008) Mammals of the British Isles: Handbook, 4th edn. The Mammal Society, Southampton.
Available from The Mammal Society.
Updated August 2009
