Capreolus capreolus

The roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is the smallest member of the deer family found in the Alps, occurring from the valley floor up to the mountainous regions in environments on the edge of woodland and clearings. It is distinguished from red deer and fallow deer by its smaller size, short three-point antlers and the absence of a visible tail.

The roe deer belongs to the same family as red deer and fallow deer, but is clearly distinguishable from them by its size: a height at the withers of 55–77 cm, a head-to-tail length of 90–130 cm, weighing between 15 kg and 35 kg depending on sex, season and the individual’s condition. The body is slender, with the rump higher than the withers; the head is short and triangular, with large eyes and ears; the tail is reduced to an invisible stump — in females, a tuft of light-coloured hair (the ‘false tail’) marks its position. The coat changes twice a year: reddish-fawn in summer, greyish-brown in winter, with the spring moult (April–June) being more conspicuous than the autumn one. The young are born with a dark brown coat mottled with white, which they lose within the first two months of life. Only the male bears antlers: short, wrinkled, generally three-pronged in adults, which are shed between October and December and regrown by the following spring. In the winter coat, the sex can also be distinguished by the shape of the white ‘anal mirror’: kidney-shaped in males, heart-shaped in females due to the presence of the false tail.

A documented and distinctive feature of the species is embryonic diapause: mating takes place between late July and early August, but embryonic development halts at the blastocyst stage until December–January, before resuming and culminating in birth in May–June. The mechanism — delayed implantation via protein signalling (PAG) between the blastocyst and the mother — has only recently been elucidated and remains a rare occurrence amongst ungulates; the evolutionary advantage is to ensure that both mating and the birth of the young coincide with the most favourable seasons, decoupling the two events despite them being separated by approximately ten months of apparent gestation (five in reality).

The global conservation status is ‘Least Concern’ (IUCN Red List, 2016); the national assessment by the Italian Red List of Vertebrates (updated 2022) places the species in the same category, in line with thepopulation growth recorded in recent decades for large Alpine ungulates in general — there is no discrepancy between the two assessment levels.

In terms ofhabitat and distribution, the roe deer is found throughout the Alpine arc, predominantly inhabiting mixed woodland and forest edges in valley floors and on mid-slopes, generally at lower altitudes than those occupied by chamois and ibex. In the Aosta Valley, the species is one of the ungulates subject to a regional culling plan, alongside the chamois and red deer: the 2025 plan allocated a quota of 144 roe deer, compared with 925 for chamois — a figure useful as an indicator of the species’ relatively lower abundance compared with other regional ungulates, rather than a population census in the strict sense.

Identification in the field is based on their smaller size compared to red deer and fallow deer, the absence of a visible tail, the males’ short and sparsely branched antlers, and the seasonal colouring of their coat. In young individuals, the most common confusion is with young red deer, which are similar in size but have different proportions (a more elongated head and a less raised rump in red deer).

In terms of behaviour, the roe deer is a rather unsociable animal: it lives in isolation during the summer, when adult males become territorial and actively defend an area proportional to their physical condition; in autumn and winter, however, it forms small family groups of 4–10 individuals, consisting of a female, the year’s offspring and, occasionally, subordinate males. It is mainly active at dawn and dusk, times when direct sightings are most likely along the edges of clearings and cultivated fields bordering the woodland; during the middle of the day, it tends to remain deep within the vegetation.

ROUTES WHERE IT HAS BEEN SPOTTED

• Val Gravio mountain hut, from Adret (hiking, Orsiera-Rocciavrè Nature Park, Piedmont) — the published report explicitly mentions an encounter with a roe deer along the wooded stretch between the Gravio stream and Grangia.

Fact sheet

Common name: Roe deer
Scientific name: Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Species: placental mammal, order Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Distribution: Europe and parts ofWestern Asia, from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caucasus
Habitat: mixed deciduous and coniferous woodlands interspersed with clearings, forest edges, and agricultural areas in hilly and mountainous terrain
Diet: selective browser — buds, shoots, shrubs, grasses, fruits