Deer

Deer are lovely animals with hooves that live all over the world. They belong to the Cervidae family and come in many types, like the muntjac, elk, red deer, fallow deer, reindeer, white-tailed deer, roe deer, and moose. Most male deer and female reindeer grow special bony growths on their heads called antlers each year.

Deer have been important to people for a very long time. They appear in old cave paintings and stories. People have enjoyed eating deer meat, called venison, and using their skins, called buckskin. Hunting deer is still a popular activity today.

Deer live in many different places, from cold tundra to warm tropical rainforests. They are often found where forests meet open spaces, like prairies and savannas. Deer are found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia. Africa has just one kind of deer, the Barbary stag, which lives in the Atlas Mountains.

Deer are good jumpers and swimmers. They have special eyes that help them see well at night and glands on their faces that produce a strong-smelling liquid to mark their territory. Most deer species have mothers that care for their babies, called fawns, by themselves. A mother deer usually has one or two fawns at a time, and they stay together for about a year.