Page "Deer" Paragraph 16

The Eurasian Continent ( including the Indian Subcontinent ) boasts the most species of deer in the world, with most species being found in Asia.

Europe, in comparison, has lower diversity in plant and animal species.

However, many national parks and protected reserves in Europe do have populations of red deer, roe deer, and fallow deer.

These species have long been associated with the continent of Europe, but also inhabit Asia Minor, the Caucasus Mountains, and Northwestern Iran.

" European " Fallow Deer historically lived over much of Europe during the Ice Ages, but afterwards became restricted primarily to the Anatolian Peninsula, in present-day Turkey.

Present-day Fallow deer populations in Europe are a result of historic man-made introductions of this species first to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, then eventually to the rest of Europe.

They were initially park animals that later escaped and reestablished themselves in the wild.

Historically, Europe's deer species shared their deciduous forest habitat with other herbivores such as the extinct tarpan ( forest horse ), extinct aurochs ( forest ox ), and the endangered wisent ( European bison ).

Good places to see deer in Europe include the Scottish Highlands, the Austrian Alps, and the wetlands between Austria, Hungary, and Czech Republic.

Some fine National Parks include Doñana National Park in Spain, the Veluwe in the Netherlands, the Ardennes in Belgium, and Białowieża National Park of Poland.

Spain, Eastern Europe, and the Caucasus Mountains still have virgin forest areas that are not only home to sizable deer populations but also for other animals that were once abundant such as the wisent, Eurasian lynx, Spanish lynx, wolves, and Brown bears.