Roe deer Capreolus capreolus

Taxonomy: Class: Mammalia; Order: Artiodactyla; Family: Cervidae

Description

Roe deer © Alexis de la Serre

The roe deer is the smallest native British deer. Its coat varies from dark grey-brown in winter to reddish in summer, but always shows a cream rump patch and insignificant tail. The antlers of the male are small. It was close to extinction some 300 years ago and still localised a century ago. Helped by re-introductions, it has steadily expanded its range since the 1960s. It is considered a pest in some areas because of damage to agriculture and forestry. Bucks may be shot from 1 April to 31 October, does from 1 November to 31 March.

Further information:
Mammal Society website roe deer page.

Conservation status and legislation

Status:
UK: Native
World: Least Concern (IUCN Red List)

© Crown Copyright. All rights reserved NERC 100017897 2004
Source: National Biodiversity Network and its data providers, who bear
no responsibility for interpretation of the 10x10-km grid map

Recent trends from the National Gamebag Census

United Kingdom

Index of bag density from 1961 to 2009 (see statistical methods and interpretational considerations).
Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.

There has been a significant and sustained increase in the bag index between 1961 and 2009. This corresponds to a spectacular period of range expansion and increasing abundance (see maps) following near extinction and subsequent re-introductions. The increase in bag index may also reflect greater effort from stalking.

Change in roe deer bags over time, with 95% confidence limits (see statistical methods):

Country	Sites	Start year	End year	Change (%) 1961-2009	Change (%) 1984-2009	Change (%) 1995-2009
United Kingdom	570	1961	2009	660* 320 to 1297	104* 70 to 142	49* 32 to 69

* significant at P < 0.05

England

Index of bag density from 1970 to 2009 (see statistical methods and interpretational considerations).
Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.

There has been a significant and sustained increase in the bag index between 1970 and 2009. This corresponds to a spectacular period of range expansion and increasing abundance (see maps) following near extinction and subsequent re-introductions. The increase in bag index may also reflect greater effort from stalking.

Change in roe deer bags over time, with 95% confidence limits (see statistical methods):

Country	Sites	Start year	End year	Change (%) 1961-2009	Change (%) 1984-2009	Change (%) 1995-2009
England	297	1970	2009	339* 236 to 649	127* 74 to 196	54* 29 to 90

* significant at P < 0.05

Scotland

Index of bag density from 1961 to 2009 (see statistical methods and interpretational considerations).
Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.

There has been a significant and sustained increase in the bag index between 1961 and 2009. This corresponds to a spectacular period of range expansion and increasing abundance (see maps) following near extinction and subsequent re-introductions. The increase in bag index may also reflect greater effort from stalking.

Change in roe deer bags over time, with 95% confidence limits (see statistical methods):

Country	Sites	Start year	End year	Change (%) 1961-2009	Change (%) 1984-2009	Change (%) 1995-2009
Scotland	268	1961	2009	596* 220 to 1109	94* 53 to 140	47* 22 to 79

* significant at P < 0.05

Wales

There are too few bag records of roe deer to produce an index graph.

Two sites in Wales, both close to the border with England, have reported roe deer bags in recent years. This refects the continuing westwards spread of the species (see maps).

There are too few bag records of roe deer to evaluate rates of change over time

Country	Sites	Start year	End year	Change (%) 1961-2009	Change (%) 1984-2009	Change (%) 1995-2009
Wales	Too few sites

N Ireland

There are too few bag records of roe deer to produce an index graph.

 

There are too few bag records of roe deer to evaluate rates of change over time

Country	Sites	Start year	End year	Change (%) 1961-2009	Change (%) 1984-2009	Change (%) 1995-2009
N Ireland	Too few sites

Environmental zones

Change in roe deer bags over time, with 95% confidence limits (see statistical methods):

* significant at P < 0.05

Comparison with BBS mammal data

Since 1995, data on roe deer abundance have been collected under the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) organised by the British Trust for Ornithology. Below, the UK trend from the NGC is compared to the one from the BBS (from 1995 onwards).

NGC index of bag density (blue) and BBS index of abundance (red), from 1995 to 2009.
Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.

Both sets of indices show significant increases since 1995. For all years, the BTO confidence intervals are completely or almost completely within the NGC confidence intervals, indicating good agreement between the two index series.

Long-term trend from the National Gamebag Census

Index of bag density from 1901 to 2009 (see statistical methods and interpretational considerations).
Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.

The bag index remained fairly stable between 1901 and 1960, but there has been a significant and sustained increase from the 1960s to the present day. The period of increase reflects the ongoing range expansion and increasing abundance of the species (see maps) following near extinction and subsequent re-introductions. Why the increase began when it did was probably linked to a combination of habitat expansion (through new forestry plantings) and changes in the law (control by snaring and shotgun drives was outlawed). This led to an greater use of stalking, first for control, then as a source of income.

References and further reading

• Battersby,J. (2005). UK Mammals: Species Status and Population Trends. Joint Nature Conservation Committee/Tracking Mammals Partnership, Peterborough (JNCC download page).
• Deer Initiative (2008). Species Ecology: Roe Deer. England & Wales Best Practice Guides, The Deer Initiative, Chirk (PDF file - 4,830 KB).
• Fawcett,J.K. (1997). Roe Deer. Mammal Society & British Deer Society, London & Fordingbridge.
• Harris,S., Morris,P., Wray,S. & Yalden,D.W. (1995). A Review of British Mammals: Population Estimates and Conservation Status of British Mammals Other than Cetaceans. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough (JNCC download page).
• Harris,S. & Yalden,D.W. (2008). Mammals of the British Isles: Handbook, 4th edition. Mammal Society, Southampton.

This report should be cited as: Aebischer,N.J., Davey,P.D. & Kingdon,N.G. (2011). National Gamebag Census: Mammal Trends to 2009. Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Fordingbridge (http://www.gwct.org.uk/ngcmammals).

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