The Corsican red deer (''Cervus elaphus corsicanus''), also known simply as the Corsican deer or Sardinian deer, is a population of
red deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') 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 wes ...
(''Cervus elaphus'') found on the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
islands of
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
(
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
) and
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
(
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
).
Characteristics
The Corsican red deer is smaller than most of the 16 subspecies of the red deer; it has shorter legs (possibly to better scramble up mountain sides) and a longer tail.
[Hughes West 2008, p 146] The
antler
Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on male ...
s are also simplified and shorter, typically less than in length. The coat is brownish. Life expectancy is 13–14 years. Males reach a height of and a weight of ; while females measure and weight .
[Natura 2000, in French]
Reproduction
This subspecies reach sexual maturity at 2 years of age. Mating lasts from August to November and can involve mortal battles. The dominant male finally secures most of the mature females, typically 12 per male. After gestation, in May–July, females hide alone in the ''
maquis
Maquis may refer to:
Resistance groups
* Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance
* Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War
* The network ...
'' (the dense vegetation) to deliver, typically a single birth per female. Males leave the matriarchal group following the reproductive period.
Distribution and habitat
The Corsican red deer was introduced to the
Tyrrhenian islands of Corsica and Sardinia during the
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...
by humans, replacing the now extinct endemic deer
''Praemegaceros'' ''cazioti'', which had been present on the islands for over 450,000 years. Today, red deer live in the wild in sanctuaries on both islands; for example, it is bred in the Monte Arcosu Forest in Sardinia and in the ''
Parc Naturel Régional de Corse
The Regional Natural Park of Corsica (french: Parc Naturel Régional de Corse, co, Parcù di Corsica) is a natural park. It was listed in 1972 and then relisted for 10 years in June 1999. The Natural Park covers nearly 40% of the island of Cors ...
'', which covers almost 40% of the island, where it was reintroduced from Sardinia after its extinction in the 1970s.
Conservation status
The subspecies gets its name from the island of Corsica from where it was, however,
extirpated
Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...
in the early 1970s. At that time, the less than 250 animals that still existed on Sardinia were protected and plans were elaborated for a reintroduction on Corsica. Captive breeding on the latter island began in 1985 and the population increased from 13 founders to 186 captive animals. Reintroduction could finally begin in 1998, and as of 2007, the Corsican population was about 250 individuals, with a total of about 1,000 for the subspecies, which has therefore been downgraded to
near threatened
A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...
on the
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
.
[Kidjo ''et al.'' 2007]
See also
*
Insular dwarfism
Insular dwarfism, a form of phyletic dwarfism, is the process and condition of large animals evolving or having a reduced body size when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands. This natural process is disti ...
*
Sardinian dhole
The Sardinian dhole (''Cynotherium sardous'') is an extinct insular canid which was endemic to what is now the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia (Italy) and Corsica (France), which were joined for much of the Pleistocene. It went extinct when h ...
Notes
References
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q763725
Elk and red deer
Mammals of Europe
Fauna of Sardinia
Mammals described in 1777