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Cervus Elaphus
The Red Deer is the fourth largest deer species behind moose, elk (wapiti), and sambar deer. It is a ruminant, eating its food in two stages and having an even number of toes on each hoof, like camels, goats and cattle. European Red Deer have a relatively long tail compared to their Asian and North American relatives. There are subtle differences in appearance between the various subspecies of Red Deer primarily in size and antlers, with the smallest being the Corsican Red Deer found on the islands of Corsica and Sardinia and the largest being the Caspian red deer (or maral) of Asia Minor and the Caucasus Region to the west of the Caspian Sea. The deer of Central and Western Europe vary greatly in size with some of the largest deer found in the Carpathian Mountains in Central Europe. West European Red Deer historically, grew to large size given ample food supply (including peoples' crops), and descendants of introduced populations living in New Zealand and Argentina have grown quite large in size and antlers. Large Red Deer stags, like the Caspian Red Deer or those of the Carpathian Mountains may rival the Wapiti in size. Female Red Deer are much smaller than their male counterparts.
National park with a mixture of water, forrest and open grassland.
I shot more photo's of deer in the same park: - http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/550... - http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/602...
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