The roe deer is an extremely flexible animal that can live in both closed forests and open grasslands. It is a solitary species that does not live in groups like most European ungulates and is highly adaptable thanks to the current lack of natural predators. Thanks to its excellent adaptation to different habitats, it can occupy a variety of forest environments: deciduous forests, mixed forests, and coniferous forests, but it also adapts to degraded forests and harsher conditions, such as scrublands or grasslands. It prefers landscapes embedded with forests and crops, with layers of trees, shrubs, and grasses, and is therefore well adapted to modern agricultural areas. This is why we can find it in much of Asia and Europe.

Distribution of the roe deer: Asia and Europe

There are two species of roe deer on the planet: the Asian and the European. Although the Siberian or Asian roe deer has been considered a species since 2007, it was previously a subspecies of the European roe deer.

The Asian variety has larger, more branched antlers and is also larger (it can reach 60 kg). In addition to northeast Asia, it lives in Kazakhstan, eastern Tibet, and the Korean Peninsula. In the west, it reaches the Ural Mountains and the Caucasus, where it overlaps with the European roe deer. This species has been in progressive decline for decades due to fires and poaching.

A very curious characteristic of this species is its seasonal movements. It is solitary in summer (females remain with their young), but in winter it forms mixed groups of up to 20-30 individuals. During seasonal movements, the group size increases to 500 individuals. In the Amur Province (Russia), the species migrates annually from wintering to summer areas, with migrations of up to 200 km3.

Within the European roe deer, there are a wide variety of subspecies and breeds depending on their geographical location and the different authors, although officially the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) only recognizes 5 subspecies of European roe deer.

This deer is found in most of Europe, with the exception of Ireland, Greece, and northern Scandinavia. Germany has the highest population density and the highest capture rates, and the Lower Saxon black roe deer (unique in the world) can also be hunted there.

Subspecies in Spain

The roe deer population has experienced a significant increase as a result of the abandonment of rural areas and more rational hunting and management practices.

In the Peninsula we have three of them: Capreolus capreolus canus (Central Spain), Capreolus capreolus decorus (Northern Spain) and Capreolus capreolus garganta (Southern Spain or Moorish roe deer).

If you want to know more about the roe deer of northern Spain and join us on our adventure hunting them, here is the link to our series on Cazavisión: "El corzo del norte" https://plus.cazavision.com/el-corzo-del-norte

The Moorish roe deer

Its geographic distribution is the most southerly in existence, as it has adapted to southern Spain, specifically to the mountain ranges of Grazalema, Ronda, and Los Alcornocales. The Atlantic climate found in these territories has created a very unique habitat, which has led the roe deer that inhabit them to develop their own characteristics.

This is a slightly lighter type of roe deer with a more grayish coat year-round. The classic lighter bib, found in other populations, is absent from the Moorish roe deer. They also have a shorter and wider jaw, likely due to their harder stem diet. Due to the latitude of their distribution range, their life cycle can be said to be one month earlier.

Author: María Balletbó