Due to its rarity, little is known about the behaviour of the Mesopotamian fallow deer in the wild. It is solitary or lives in small herds that move with the seasons depending on food availability. Males establish their territory during the breeding season between July and October.

The Mesopotamian fallow deer is larger than the European fallow deer and, although its coat is identical, its antlers are different: they are larger but less branched, lacking the characteristic broad upper palm of their cousins.

Historically, the distribution of the Mesopotamian fallow deer, or Persian fallow deer, stretched from Tunisia to Iran, passing through Turkey, Palestine and Lebanon. Victim of hunting and desertification, it was considered extinct until its rediscovery in 1875 in Iran. With no news of this population, it was once again declared extinct in the wild in 1951. When, a few years later, a small population was observed again in Kuzhestan, an Iranian province near the Iraqi border, measures were immediately taken to protect the species and encourage its breeding in captivity.

The political situation in the few regions where it remains does not bode well for its short-term survival. It is imperative to create new protected areas and study the genetics of the populations.