The two small herds of Red and Fallow deer now live in the designated Deer park, known as The Wilderness. Take a stroll along the designated paths to reach special viewpoints where you'll see the two herds roaming freely.
Deer. The Deer Park at Tatton was created by Royal Charter in 1290. The deer herd are managed by the Ranger team who are justifiably proud of the superb quality of both the Red and Fallow deer which total 400 breeding head.
Windsor Great Park is home not only to our resident Red Deer herd, but also to a herd of Long Horn cattle which roam around the native oaks. Perhaps one of the best known species that live in the Great Park is our herd of Red Deer, which are resident in the Deer Park adjacent to the Long Walk.
Royal Parks, Greater LondonThough unequivocally less wild than the options above, at a deer park such as Richmond or Bushy Parks it is easy to photograph stags at close range among bracken-strewn woodland scenery. There are 630 deer in Richmond, including both red and fallow deer.
Wild deer are most likely to be seen in London's outer fringes. There are regular sightings in the woods of Barnet, Bromley, Croydon, Havering, Hillingdon and Waltham Forest. Some deer have even been reported at Sydenham Hill Wood and Tooting Bec Common.
The majority of the UK's red deer are found in Scotland. There are scattered populations across the rest of the country, with the greatest numbers in the Lake District, East Anglia and southwest England.
Where to Photograph Deer in the UK
| Deer Venue | Near | Notes |
|---|
| St Audries in the Quantock Hills | Watchet | Famous for huge deer populations. Red |
| Cannock Forest | Rugeley | 3 types of deer. |
| British Wildlife Centre | Lingfield | Muntjac, Roe Deer and Red Deer |
| Ashdown Forest | Crowborough | Fallow, Roe, Sika and Muntjac |
- British Wildlife Centre. Lingfield, Surrey RH7 6LF. Fallow, red, roe and muntjac deer. A small park created in 1997 to showcase native British wildlife.
- Knole Park. Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0RP. Fallow & sika deer.
- Richmond Park. Richmond, London. Fallow & red deer.
Great places to see wildlife in London
- WWT London Wetland Centre.
- Sydenham Hill Wood.
- RSPB Rainham Marshes.
- Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park.
- Regent's Park.
- Camley Street.
Richmond Park, originally a Royal hunting ground, is home to around 345 Red deer and 315 Fallow deer. Introduced by Henry VIII for hunting, more than 90 Red deer and 140 Fallow deer roam freely throughout Bushy Park.
Mammals. As well as the red deer and fallow deer, there is a range of other, less obvious, mammals living in Richmond Park. This includes voles, mice, shrews, rabbits and foxes.
The legal stance is that no-one owns the deer, only the right to shoot them, so no-one owns the cast off antlers. You try explaining that to an irate gamekeeper. Best way is to avoid confrontation rather than struggle through it.
The deer in Richmond Park and Bushy Park are wild animals and can be unpredictable. Our parks are nature reserves and the herds of wild deer roam freely. For your safety, please keep at least 50 metres away from the deer at all times and don't touch, feed or attempt to photograph the deer at close range.
The biggest park in London is Richmond Park, followed by nearby Bushy Park, Regent's Park and then Hyde Park.
Richmond Park is open to vehicles from 7:00 am in the summer and 7:30 am in the winter. Vehicle gates close at dusk all year round. Pedestrian gates are open 24 hours except during the six week deer culls from November to early December and February to early March.
Distribution: Scottish Highlands, Southern Scotland, Lake District, East Anglia, Northern England, Midlands, East Anglia, the New Forest, Sussex and south-west England. Behaviour: In forests, red deer are mostly solitary or exist in small groups, largely active at dawn and dusk.
Deer eat a variety of food types, including browse (leafy parts of woody plants), forbs (herbaceous broad-leaved plants, including agricultural crops), hard and soft mast (seeds), grass and mushrooms/lichens.
The deer herd at KnoleWhile these beautiful creatures can appear to be friendly, they are wild animals - seen at their best from a respectful distance. Please do not approach, pet or feed the deer, as it can be dangerous for both visitors and deer.
Six species of deer live freely in the British countryside. Only red deer and roe deer are truly indigenous. Fallow deer were almost certainly introduced by the Normans while three Asiatic species, Reeves' muntjac, Chinese water deer and sika deer arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
IMO Richmond Park has the nicer landscaping to go with the deer, but it's also the 'bigger name' so you'll find yourself part of a larger rampaging horde of photographers (at least during the rut). Bushy Park feels much more like small park, but is better for 'deer in the bracken' shots.
There are 2 culls in Richmond Park – the males in February and the females in November. The cull is necessary in order to maintain the number of deer in the park and prevent overgrazing which would ultimately result in starvation. Deer populations are actively managed to keep herds at a sustainable size.
Some of the park's animals are hard to miss, like the herds of deer that have been kept here for more than 500 years. But others are more elusive: water voles, hedgehogs, bats and several hundred rare species of invertebrates have all set up home in Bushy.
Fallow deer (Dama dama)Roe has red/brown coat in summer and grey/brown in winter, with no spots. Roe has a distinctive black nose and white chin, which fallow does not have. Antlers of fallow are large and palmate (broad and flattened) unlike small antlers of roe deer, with usually no more than 3 points.
By Car. There are four car parks within Bushy Park and these are clearly marked on the Bushy Park map. Parking is free of charge. There is no parking when the vehicle gates are locked.
