# Red deer (*Cervus elaphus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-deer  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 122 kg – 165 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 26.9 years – 31.5 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Gestation | 231 days – 244 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1.04 |
| Age at maturity | 2 years – 2.33 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 0.905 |
| Active | At night (nocturnal) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Artiodactyla
- family: Cervidae
- genus: Cervus
- species: *Cervus 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*

## Countries on record

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.

Australia

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Red deer (Cervus elaphus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-deer