Distribution
Red deer lives in many parts of the world. The area is large enough. This animal can be found throughout Western Europe, in Belarus, Algeria and Morocco, in Southern Scandinavia, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Tibet, in Southeast China. The most extensive area of the range - in North America. Delivered to Australia and New Zealand, Argentina and Chile. There the red deer has acclimatized and feels great.Power
The red deer feeds on a wide variety of foods. The main food of this animal is grassy vegetation, cereals, legumes. In the spring, after a difficult season for animals - winter, special importance is attached to the consumption of proteinaceous vegetation, to replenish strength and get a full-fledged vitamin feed. In the winter period, if the snow cover is not very large, the red deer takes the opportunity to extract fallen leaves from trees, various stalks and bark of shrubs. Pine and spruce needles are also consumed. A great help in the winter time for deer are the acorns that the animal obtains from under the snow. Chestnuts, all sorts of nuts, seeds of many plant species are also consumed. Mushrooms, lichens, fruits, berries - everything goes to the food of the noble deer. Meals can vary depending on what the crop was in the previous winter year. In the food, red deer consume salt, extracting it from the salt. Lick the salt, gnaw the earth, which is full of mineral salts, replenish the lack of minerals in the body, using mineral springs. They do not graze in the heat, but lie in the shade, only in the morning and in the evening, going out to pastures. They save themselves from the heat in rivers where they can spend more time of the day. Bukhara deer goes to pasture at night. In winter, when the air temperature drops low enough, the animals are forced to eat almost all day to replenish their energy.
Reproduction
Males are ready for breeding at 2-3 years of age with a total life expectancy of about 20 years. Females become sexually mature earlier - by 14-16 months. Pregnancy lasts for 8.5 months (193-263 days in young females and 228-243 in adult animals); deer are born between mid-May and mid-July. Calving takes place in secluded places. Females give birth, as a rule, one baby deer, rarely two. The color of the little fawn is spotty, which helps him to disguise. At first, this is the main protection of the fawn. They begin to feed independently at the age of one month, but in parallel with the grass they suck the female, sometimes up to one year old.A year later, young males begin to appear on the forehead bumps, which later turn into luxurious horns. Although the first horns will not have branches and in the spring will be reset. With each subsequent year, the number of shoots on the horns will increase, and the horns themselves will become more powerful and stronger. They reach the largest sizes at the age of males from 5 to 12 years, then they become smaller, weaker every year, the number of shoots decreases. Horns are dumped in March-April, sometimes, in warm winters, in January-February. The ossification of antlers occurs in July-August.