The herds number up to 40 does accompanied by fawns from the current and previous years; young males form separate groups while older males remain apart.

At the end of summer, deer enter their rutting season. Adorned with their antlers, formidable weapons in battles between rivals, they let out a hoarse cry, known as bellowing, which echoes for miles and marks their territory. During this period, they can lose up to 20% of their weight! After the inevitable clashes, the victor will form his harem, consisting of 10 to 30 does. Once the breeding season is over, the males will shed their antlers and resume their solitary lives.

Their diet varies according to the seasons and availability: buds and young shoots in spring, grasses, brambles and herbaceous plants in summer and autumn, dead leaves, bark and ferns in winter.

Also known as the European red deer, the red deer is the largest wild mammal in our territory.

The fawn has a reddish coat with white spots, which it keeps for two months. In adults, the coat varies according to the season: reddish brown in summer and grey-brown in winter. Males are generally darker than females.

The antlers appear at the age of 9 months. Year after year, with each regrowth, their size increases, but the number of points on them does not indicate the age of the animal!

Males are called yearlings between 6 and 12 months of age, then fawns up to 2 years of age. Females are called does from 6 months to 2 years of age.

The red deer population declined sharply at the end of the Second World War. Today, thanks to rigorous management, it has recolonised many forests, but the fragmentation of territories by the development of rail and motorway networks isolates populations, reducing genetic diversity.

The approximately 150,000 individuals recorded are responsible for considerable damage and, in the absence of natural predators, strictly regulated hunting plans allow for the necessary culling.