Elephant Puppets fallow deer update
3Fallow deer is the common name for species of deer in the genus Dama of subfamily Cervinae.[3] There are two living species, the European fallow deer (Dama dama), native to Europe and Anatolia, and the Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica), native to the Middle East. The European species has been widely introduced elsewhere.
The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word dāma or damma, used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes, lies at the root of the modern scientific name, as well as the German Damhirsch, French daim, Dutch damhert, and Italian daino. In Serbo-Croatian, the name for the fallow deer is jelen lopatar ("shovel deer"), due to the form of its antlers. The Modern Hebrew name of the fallow deer is yachmur (יחמור).
The Persian fallow deer is the larger of the two living species, with an average body mass of around 70–140 kilograms (150–310 lb),[4] and a shoulder height of around 80–110 centimetres (31–43 in)[5] with the European fallow deer having an average body mass of around 35–80 kilograms (77–176 lb).[4] The living fallow deer species have antlers which have flattened (palmate) ends,[4] with the palmate section being somewhat narrower in the antlers of Persian fallow deer.[6] During the summer months European fallow deer have a reddish pelt with white spots along the back and the sides (flank), while during the winter they have a grey pelt that lacks or has less visible spots.[7]