AnimalvsAnimal
Red deer (Cervus elaphus) hind🦌

Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesArtiodactylaCervidae
Mammals

🦌Red deer

Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758

The red deer is a species of deer in the genus Cervus. It is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of Western Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains of Northern Africa, being the only living species of deer to inhabit Africa. Red deer have been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Peru, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina. In many parts of the world, the meat (venison) from red deer is used as a food source.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
1,402
Photos
1
Measurements
14
vs you
≈ 2.6× your weight
Also called
West European red deer, western red deer
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2018.

Population trendIncreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
160 kg
Body length
2.14 m
Shoulder height
1.13 m
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
31 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Red deer

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
160 kg
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 200 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: high
Body length
2.14 m
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Shoulder height
1.13 maverage
Other figures ↓

Species-level value synthesised as the mean of: both.

By sex

  • Both1.13 mHandbook of the Mammals of the World Vol 2: Hoofed Mammals (Wilson & Mittermeier eds) 2011, Red Deer species account, pp. 422-423, Lynx Edicions, https://zenodo.org/records/6514513'Shoulder height 105-130 cm (stags) and 95-115 cm (hinds)'. Value is the midpoint of the combined published span (95-130 cm). European red deer; wapiti-type populations run larger (ADW for C. elaphus sensu lato: 'most elk stand approximately 0.75 to 1.5 m high at the shoulder').
Brain mass
354 g
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
31 years
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 32 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: high
Generation length
14 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Age at maturity
1.8 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Gestation
244 days
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 245 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: high
Litter size
1
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 1AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: high
Trophic level
Herbivore
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Crepuscular / mixed
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Home range
58 km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Population density
3.62 per km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
160 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Red deer yet: top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classMammalia
  4. ›orderArtiodactyla
  5. ›familyCervidae
  6. ›genusCervus
  7. ›speciesCervus elaphus
Full lineage
  1. classMammals · Mammalia
  2. orderEven-toed hoofed animals · Artiodactyla
  3. familyCervidae
  4. subfamilyCervinae
All 15 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammals · Mammalia
  9. subclassTheria
  10. superorderLaurasiatheria
  11. orderEven-toed hoofed animals · Artiodactyla
  12. suborderRuminantia
  13. infraorderPecora
  14. familyCervidae
  15. subfamilyCervinae
More

More about the Red deer

Closest relative on this site
🦌 Elk — last shared an ancestor ≈ 0.0 million years ago.
What it eats
leaves, roots and other plants100%
In other languages
hjort (nb), Edelhirsch (de), Cervus elaphus (es), cerf élaphe (fr), edelhert (nl), 欧洲马鹿 (zh) … and 28 more languages

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