Adopt the Red Deer

Description

Red deer migrated into Britain from Europe 11000 years ago. They were used extensively by Mesolithic man as a source of food, skins and tools (bones and antlers). Neolithic man developed agriculture and cleared swathes of forest to make way for fields. This loss of forest encouraged the decline of red deer populations, which became confined to the Scottish Highlands, south-west England and a few other small, scattered populations. The Normans protected red deer in parks and "forests" (often devoid of trees!) for royal hunting, but this protection was lost during the Mediaeval period causing another decline in numbers in England. Victorian re-introductions of "improved" stock (often inter-bred with larger related species such as Wapiti), escapes from deer parks, natural spread and increase in the Highlands and an increase in forest and woodland cover since the early 20th century mean that red deer are now widely distributed in Britain and are expanding in range and number.