10
Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 20 A S U R V E Y O F T H E D I S T R I B U T I O N O F D E E R IN S U F F O L K STEPHEN A . CHAM
Deer are currently thought to be more abundant in the British Isles than at any time for 1,000 years. There are now seven species of deer living in a free State in Great Britain and of these, four species are seen regularly in Suffolk. Only the Red deer (Cervus elaphus) and Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) are truly indigenous to Great Britain. Fossil evidence from the Forest Bed exposed at the base of the cliffs near Cromer in Norfolk suggests that deer have been present in East Anglia for about 500,000 years. However, Red and Roe deer became extinct in East Anglia through persecution by man and the four species currently found in Suffolk are the descendants of accidental or deliberate introductions. Most species of deer are traditionally woodland creatures and Suffolk offers a wide variety of suitable habitats. The large coniferous forests of Breckland and the east coast, the mixed deciduous woods of the Suffolk boulder clays and the small copses and shelter belts of the agricultural land all provide suitable habitat for deer. The Survey
Due to the apparent increase in deer numbers in recent years a survey was organised to evaluate the present day distribution of deer in East and West Suffolk (Vice counties 25 and 26). The survey spans a period from January 1980 to December 1983, but records prior to this have been consulted in order to evaluate the expansion in deer distribution in the county. Articles and advertisements were published in the journal of the British Deer Society, the Suffolk Trust for Nature Conservation's newsletter and several local newspapers in order to promote the survey. Sight records from areas where a species was known to exist were accepted at face value but doubtful or unusual records were only accepted if confirmed by an experienced observer. Records of tracks and droppings were treated with caution unless confirmed by a sight record as there are difficulties in identifying species by these methods. For example, in summer the tracks of a Fallow fawn or young Roe can easily be confused with those of an adult Muntjac. The presence of wild deer in a particular area at any point in time is not always indicative of a resident group of deer. Cranbrook and Payn (1970a) recorded how sporadic deer sightings can be in any one parish. At Great Glenham both Fallow and Red deer were seen between 1965 and 1969 during the summer but no sightings occurred during the winters. Symonds (1983) documents how at a Cambridgeshire nature reserve no evidence of deer was found up to 1982 but, due to the large number of visitors, a Muntjac was recorded in June 1982. These examples illustrate some of the restrictions of a survey of this nature showing how deer could easily be overlooked in remote areas. Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 20