Red deer
Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758
The red deer (Cervus elaphus) is a large mammal in the family Cervidae, order Artiodactyla, with an adult body mass of 165 kg. It is a nocturnal, terrestrial herbivore.
Quick facts about the red deer
Gestation lasts 244.4 days, with 1 young per litter, and sexual maturity comes at 2.2 years. The red deer is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not a threatened category, and checklists record it in Australia.
- Weight
- 122 kg – 165 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 26.9 years – 31.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 231 days – 244 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.04src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2 years – 2.33 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.905src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Photos of the red deer
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the red deer live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The red deer is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the red deer?
The red deer (Cervus elaphus) is a species of deer in the genus Cervus. It is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of Western Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains of Northern Africa, being the only living species of deer to inhabit Africa. Red deer have been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Peru, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina. In many parts of the world, the meat (venison) from red deer is used as a food source.
The red deer is a ruminant, characterized by a four-chambered stomach. Genetic evidence indicates that the red deer, as traditionally defined, is a species group, rather than a single species, though exactly how many species the group includes remains disputed. The ancestor of the red deer probably originated in central Asia.
Although at one time red deer were rare in parts of Europe, they were never close to extinction. Reintroduction and conservation efforts, such as in the United Kingdom and Portugal, have resulted in an increase of red deer populations, while other areas, such as North Africa, have continued to show a population decline.
From the Wikipedia article “Red deer” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_deer&oldid=1382522243), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the red deer sound like?
Is the red deer endangered?
The red deer is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the red deer classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyCervidae
- genusCervus
- SpeciesCervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Cervus albicus, Cervus albifrons, Cervus albus, Cervus balticus, Cervus bedfordianus, Cervus canadaensis xanthopygus, Cervus elaphus acoronatus, Cervus elaphus carpathicus, Cervus elaphus jerseyensis, Cervus elaphus tauricus, Cervus elaphus xanthopygus, Cervus germanicus, Cervus hippelaphus, Cervus isubra, Cervus luhdorfi, Cervus mediterraneus, Cervus minor, Cervus montanus, Cervus neglectus, Cervus rhenanus, Cervus saxonicus, Cervus scoticus, Cervus simplicidens, Cervus typicus, Cervus varius, Cervus vulgaris, Cervus xanthopygus var. typicus
Other names and names in other languages (120)
- ElaphoidEnglish
- ElkEnglish
- Eurasian red deerEnglish
- Eurasiatic red deerEnglish
- European red deerEnglish
- HartEnglish
- Red deer (see comments)English
- WapitiEnglish
- West European red deerEnglish
- West European red deerEnglish
- Western red deerEnglish
- Western red deerEnglish
- RooihertAfrikaans
- أيل أحمرArabic
- أيل أحمر أوراسيArabic
- أيل أحمر أوروبيArabic
- venáuAsturian
- Nəcib maralAzerbaijani
- БоланBashkir
- RóudhirschBavarian
- Алень высакародныBelarusian
- Благороден еленBulgarian
- Karv ruzBreton
- CérvolCatalan
- Cérvol comúCatalan
- ГӏелаChechen
- Jelen lesníCzech
- jelen evropskýCzech
- JeléńKashubian
- Carw CochWelsh
- Ceirw CochWelsh
- KrondyrDanish
- KronhjortDanish
- RotwildGerman
- EdelhirschGerman
- RothirschGerman
- Κόκκινο ΕλάφιGreek
- Ruĝa cervoEsperanto
- CiervoSpanish
- Ciervo coloradoSpanish
- Ciervo comúnSpanish
- Ciervo europeoSpanish
- Ciervo RojoSpanish
- VenadoSpanish
- PunahirvEstonian
- orein arruntBasque
- مرالPersian
- SaksanhirviFinnish
- isokaurisFinnish
- CerfFrench
- Cerf élapheFrench
- Cerf rougeFrench
- wapitiFrench
- ReahartWestern Frisian
- Fia ruaIrish
- damhScottish Gaelic
- agh-fèidhScottish Gaelic
- aighean-fèidhScottish Gaelic
- daimhScottish Gaelic
- fèidh ruadhaScottish Gaelic
- fiadh ruadhScottish Gaelic
- laoghScottish Gaelic
- laoighScottish Gaelic
- Cervo comúnGalician
- Feeaih ruyManx
- ἔλαφοςAncient Greek
- אייל אצילHebrew
- אייל אדמוניHebrew
- लाल हिरणHindi
- Obični jelenCroatian
- gímszarvasHungarian
- Ազնիվ եղջերուArmenian
- Cervo realeItalian
- Cervo nobileItalian
- Cervo rossoItalian
- アカシカJapanese
- კეთილშობილი ირემიGeorgian
- КермаралKazakh
- 말사슴Korean
- 붉은사슴Korean
- GakovîKurdish
- CervusLatin
- RouthirschLuxembourgish
- Taurusis ElniasLithuanian
- StaltbriedisLatvian
- ПӱчӧMari
- TiaMāori
- Обичен еленMacedonian
- hjortNorwegian Bokmål
- EdelhertDutch
- ChérfePicard
- jeleń szlachetnyPolish
- Cervo-vermelhoPortuguese
- VeadoPortuguese
- Veado-vermelhoPortuguese
- cerb comunRomanian
- Cerb carpatinRomanian
- Благородный оленьRussian
- jurotNorthern Sami
- ruksesgoddiNorthern Sami
- jeleň lesnýSlovak
- rdeči jelenSlovenian
- navadni jelenSlovenian
- Dreri i rëndomtëAlbanian
- јеленSerbian
- CerbuSardinian
- ఎర్ర జింకTelugu
- กวางแดงThai
- กวางแดงยุโรปThai
- SugunTurkmen
- Pulang usaFilipino
- Ulu GeyikTurkish
- Kızıl GeyikTurkish
- Олень благороднийUkrainian
- سرخ ہرنUrdu
- CervoVenetian
- Hươu đỏVietnamese
- CierWalloon
- 马鹿Chinese
- 歐洲馬鹿Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the red deer
Other species in the same genus Cervus.
Elk
Cervus canadensis
Sika deer
Cervus nippon
Thorold's deer
Cervus albirostris
Hangul
Cervus hanglu
CompareRed deer vs ElkRed deer vs Sika deerRed deer vs Thorold's deerRed deer vs Hangul
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a red deer?
The red deer is a mammal in the family Cervidae, subfamily Cervinae, within the order Artiodactyla.
How heavy is a red deer?
An adult red deer has a body mass of 165 kg, placing it in the large size class.
What does a red deer eat?
The red deer is a herbivore.
Is the red deer endangered?
No. The red deer is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a red deer live?
The red deer has a lifespan of 26.9 years, with values up to 31.5 years reported.
How many young does a red deer have?
A red deer has 1 young per litter, with 0.9 litters per year, after a gestation of 244.4 days.
Which countries is the red deer recorded in?
Checklists record the red deer in Australia.
Who named the red deer?
The red deer, Cervus elaphus, was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Red deer (Cervus elaphus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-deer
“Red deer (Cervus elaphus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-deer.
@misc{red_deer_2026,
title = {Red deer (Cervus elaphus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-deer},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}