perpetuation of this strain of fallow, a sanctuary of 44 hectares was established
in the early 1960s at Birch Hall, Theydon Bois, on the edge of the Forest. The
deer that were introduced there have bred successfully and a thriving herd is
now present (Qvist, 1971).
Chinese Muntjac Deer
Pre-1965 records
The Chinese, or Reeves', muntjac is an Asian animal that was introduced
by the eleventh Duke of Bedford to his Woburn estate in Bedfordshire at the
turn of the century. Muntjac deer appear to have been first recorded as a wild
animal in Essex in 1941 when a male was shot in a wood near Colchester
(Waller, 1954) and, about the same time, another was killed near Easthorpe
(TL9121), 9 km to the west of the town (Whitehead, 1964). A young male
muntjac was killed in a road accident near Gosfield (TL7829) about 1945: its
skull is preserved in the Colchester museum. Muntjac deer have been present on
the Coptfold Hall estate at Margaretting (TL6503) since about 1958, according
to the gamekeeper. This is the only pre-1965 population of muntjac deer
recorded in Essex, all other records being of single animals. A young male
muntjac was trapped between a garage and a wall at Enfield, Middlesex in 1958
and was released subsequently in Epping Forest (Whitehead, 1964). A lone
deer, which from its description appears to have been a muntjac, was seen for a
few weeks in 1963 in the grounds of Pampisford Hall (TL5048), Pampisford.
only 1.5 km north of the Essex border.
Plate I. (Below, left) Muntjac deer. A male running through a garden in
Helston Road, Chelmsford, July 1966.
Essex Week/y News.
Plate II. (Below, right) A young male muntjac deer crossing a ride in Latton
Park, North Weald Bassett, July 1976.
G. Elmes.