The red deer – shy and beautiful

Created: March 8, 2022 11:57 AM

Cervus elaphus

Height: 105 - 140 cm (adult shoulder height)

Weight: 240 - 260 kg (stag) 150 – 170 kg (hind)

The red deer (Cervus elaphus) is perhaps the deer that is hardest to catch sight of when you are out and about in forest and field. It is shy and lives in forest where it is easy to stay hidden. The red deer is a social animal, and lives most of the year in some form of group. Stags and hinds gather in their own separate groups outside the mating season. As the mating season (the rut) approaches, the stags compete for the hinds’ favour. They do this both by having the largest possible antlers – and by roaring as loudly as possible. The largest and strongest stag, with the finest antlers and the deepest voice, will gather a harem of several hinds. The calves, the females in particular, may stay with their mother for several years.

The red deer eats a range of different plants. Shoots and foliage from shrubs and trees are important, but it also eats fresh shoots of grass and herbs on the ground. In winter it eats twigs, buds and bark.

Have you heard the red deer roar?

When the red deer’s rut comes at the end of September, you can hear the stag roaring on the hillside. This sound can give most people a start, but it is in fact simply the red deer’s way of attracting the ladies. It is not uncommon for people to think it is a bear or some other large predator making the sound! It is worth remembering, then, that there is no other animal in Norwegian nature than the red deer that roars.

Next steps

• Animals and tracks — the hub
• The moose — other deer
• The roe deer — other deer
• The reindeer — other deer

Learn more

• Artsdatabanken — species, status, the Red List
• Miljødirektoratet — rovvilt (large carnivores) — management
• NINA — Norsk institutt for naturforskning — research on Norwegian fauna
• Naturveilederen — Bjørn Henrik Stavdal Johansen — nature interpretation