Spotlight on: muntjac deer

The next in our spotlight of Make Your Nature Count creatures is a relative newcomer to the UK, the muntjac deer.

The smallest deer to occur in the UK, muntjacs originally hail from south-east China and Taiwan. They were introduced into the UK early in the 20th Century, mainly due to escapes from captive collections at Woburn Abbey and Whipsnade.

An old deer

There are 12 species of muntjacs worldwide. ‘Our’ muntjac is Reeves’ muntjac, and is named after the naturalist John Reeves who worked for the British East India Company in the early 1800s. The muntjac family is actually the world’s oldest deer family.

Having spread out from the original introduction sites in Bedfordshire, you can now spot this dog-sized deer throughout much of southern-England and Wales. With their russet-brown coat, small size and habit of skulking in dense woodland vegetation, muntjacs can be difficult to spot.

However, where they occur, they are becoming increasingly common in gardens, where there is a plentiful supply of food, either put out for garden wildlife or in the form of shoots, leaves and blossoms.

What’s that sound?

Muntjacs have no fixed breeding period and can breed all year round, something that has helped this non-native species to spread across the UK. So you could spy one of the youngsters out with its mother at any time. Males have small antlers which usually only have one point. They use them to push rival males around, but it’s their oversized canine teeth that do any damage.

Muntjacs are probably heard more than seen. They have a loud bark that resonates around woodland, giving rise to their alternative name of barking deer.

Have you seen a muntjac?

During Make Your Nature Count we would like to know if you ever see these elusive deer in your garden. It will help us to understand more about the creatures which visit gardens. With Muntjacs now inhabiting some of our biggest cities, there’s a great chance of them appearing in yours.

You can find everything you need to know about taking part in Make Your Nature Count on our website. It’s incredibly simple, so why not join the thousands of others and let us know about your summer wildlife.