Using strontium isotope measurements on the teeth of fallow deer found at Fishbourne, the authors argue that these elegant creatures were first introduced into Britain as a gift to the Romanised aristocracy. Kept and bred in a special enclosure at the palace, they provided more than a status symbol and gastronomic treat: the fallow deer was an emblem of Empire.

In this study 529 fallow deer fawns were captured and weighed at Doñana National Park, Spain. An annual index of male-biased maternal investment (MBMI) was calculated, and this index was found to vary in relation to environmental factors. Thus, the level of MBMI was sensitive to fluctuations of autumn rainfall and the male-biased maternal investment carried out by mothers in the previous year (MBMIP). Our results reveal that those factors related to the female's body condition at the beginning of gestation have a high contribution to the variation of differential pre-natal maternal investment. It has been hypothesized by other authors that male-biased maternal investment is limited by the level of total maternal expenditure and these authors classified the fallow deer as a species near to its maximum reproductive effort, in which no sex-biased maternal investment exists. Our study reveals that male-biased maternal investment in fallow deer does exist and supports the hypothesis that sensitivity of maternal investment to environmental conditions could be expected to occur in species with high reproductive effort and sex-biased maternal investment.

A population of 560 individually recognizable European fallow deer (Dama dama) was studied in Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland, during the rut in order to examine buck fighting technique in relation to age and rank. The percent usage and association among behavioural elements used were analysed in 162 fights and 82 sparrings. During fight sequences, high-ranking bucks tend to use a higher percentage of low-risk behaviours (all behaviours which do not involve antler contact), especially when they interact with lower-ranking deer. Fights between combatants of the same rank class show a higher use of high-risk behaviours (characterized by antler contact), and cluster analysis of a preceding–following matrix revealed that high-risk behaviours are closely associated with each other in these interactions. During sparrings, the low intensity of the interaction allows the deer to test their ability and strength using a higher percentage of behaviours which are generally considered high-risk, without risking injury. The data suggest that the percent usage and the sequences of behavioural elements performed in agonistic interactions are affected by deer rank, probably in relation to the different risks and benefits that different hierarchical positions can offer.

This study investigated the winter daily defecation rate (DDR) of fallow deer in a Mediterranean area, and reviewed the existing literature on the defecation rate of this species. A mean number of 26.5 pellet groups deer−1 day−1 was found in this study. This value was similar to that found in studies carried out in winter in the U.K. and Germany, suggesting that different diets and habitats do not affect fallow deer DDR.

Vocal signatures and individual recognition are documented in a wide range of avian and mammalian species, but little is known about cervids. However, the existence of individual characteristics in cervid vocalizations is highly probable, as the individual morphology of their vocal organ determines the spectral structure of the uttered signal. Here, we report the presence of individual characteristics in the spectral structure of fallow deer groans recorded during the rutting period. We digitized 147 vocalizations from four adult males and transformed each of them into a power spectrum of 32 values in order to represent the frequency distribution of the sound power. A neural network discrimination with cross validation performed on the resulting variables allowed us correctly to identify 87.9 % of the tested vocalizations. The spectrum characteristics of an individual remained stable over the rutting period, and probably over several consecutive ruts (the vocalizations of one male recorded during a previous rutting period were also correctly classified). We therefore conclude that the groan may constitute a vocal signature. The individually structured groan may provide a valuable basis for individual recognition during the breeding season and therefore may play an important role in the social interactions observed during this period.