Bioscientifica Proceedings

The red deer (Cervus elaphus) of European origin (e.g. subspecies scoticus, hispanicus, hippelaphus) is a medium sized (100–150 kg mature hind weight) ruminant that exhibits highly seasonally patterns of autumn conceptions and summer births. Historic data indicate average (± s.d.) gestation length of 233–234 (± 2–4) days. Recently, however, there has been growing awareness that there is considerably greater variation ...

The cervids represent a complex assemblage of taxa characterized by extreme diversity in morphology, physiology, ecology and geographical distribution. Farmed species (for example red deer and fallow deer) are usually the common larger-bodied, gregarious and monotocous species that express marked reproductive seasonality in their temperate environment. Their commercial importance has facilitated considerable research into reproductive physiology and the development of assisted...