Map 2. Distribution of Chinese muntjac deer in Essex, 1965-1976.
1965-1976 records
The post-1964 records of muntjac deer in Essex are summarized in
Appendix 1 and plotted on Map 2. In 1965, the only breeding population of this
deer recorded in Essex was that centred on the Coptfold Hall estate at
Margaretting. Isolated individuals were recorded at Basildon and West Ham in
1965. Muntjac tracks were seen in a field adjacent to High Wood, Great
Dunmow in 1965 and numerous tracks were seen further to the east, in and
around Boxted Wood at Stebbing in 1967. A male muntjac deer (Plate I) was
captured on a housing estate at Chelmsford in 1966. There were vague reports
of muntjac deer in the woods between Gosfield, High Garrett, Stisted and
Markshall during 1966-1968 but it was not until the summer of 1969 that a fully
documented sighting was made at Markshall by Beale (1974) and a male and a
female were shot in this area in the winter of 1972-1973. A young male muntjac
was caught in a garden in Halstead in 1973 and was released subsequently on
the Marks Hall estate. By 1975, muntjac deer had spread to Pods Wood near
Messing-cum-Inworth, 6 km to the south-east of Markshall.
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