Roe Deer

Roe deer
(photo by: Enrico Canal (CTA-CFS))

Capreolus capreolus

Classe: Mammiferi (Mammalia)

Order: Artiodattili (Artiodactyla)

Family: Cervidi (Cervidae)

Dimensions: length up to 120 cm, height at shoulders 75 cm

Life: 12-13 years

Habitat: it lives in woody areas, preferably with frequent clearings and a thick shrubby bed

Diet: grass, foliage, small plants

Reproduction: July and August

Cubs: they are born at the end of spring; twin births are common

Curiosities: it is particularly active by night: during the day it remains hidden in the wood, at twilight it feeds in clearings or in open spaces

Notes: it has no tail and its coat is reddish-brown in summer, greyish-brown with an evident white bottom in winter; babies have a speckled coat. Its three-point antlers fall at the beginning of the winter and grow again at the beginning of the following spring. In winter it usually forms small groups, while in the other seasons it is rather solitary; during the mating season, roe bucks mark their territory by scratching off the bark from small trees with their antlers

In the Park: widespread at least up to 1,800 metres of altitude