The Essex Naturalist 89
Fallow deer in the Epping Forest region :
An analysis of the influences on their distribution and the
consequences for forest management
M.J. Dunn1 & S.H. Cousins2
1 377 Abbott Road, Poplar, London E14 ONG.
2 Ecosystems Group, IERC, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 OAL.
Summary
Two explanations for the distribution of fallow deer in Epping forest and
surrounding region are evaluated; the historical hypothesis and the behavioural
hypothesis. These are tested using criteria of visitor presence, forage quality,
diurnal movement, predictions of presence, and road kill statistics. Although
there is some support for the historical hypothesis, that the forest is the natural
and optimum habitat for the deer, there is greater support for the behavioural
hypothesis that treats the forest as important for cover and the fields outside the
forest as important for grazing. The M25 is a major barrier suggesting the deer be
managed as a closed black-coated population south of the M25 and as an open
population of common and mixed coat colour to the north. It is proposed that
the interface between forest and field, including roads, is key to management
rather than the creation of forest lawns.
Introduction
Traditionally, fallow deer (Dama dama) have been found in parks in Essex
(Chapman, 1977). The uniqueness of the deer in the Epping forest region is that
they have been associated with the forest for centuries and are still free to move
at will into and out of its boundaries. Given that the forest is located in a
heavily populated area of south-west Essex and borders the conurbation of
London, it is of particular interest that such a large population of deer can
survive in the wild.
As London inexorably expanded in the 1800s, the forest shrank and the deer
herd there also declined. The forest eventually came under the management of
the Corporation of London in the 1870s, and since then the acquisition of land
on the borders of the forest has prevented further built development taking
place there. These "bufferlands" and related agricultural areas have a profound
effect on fallow deer movements and numbers, and are a crucial factor in the
conservation and management of the deer within the forest.
We were invited by the Epping Forest Centenary Trust to study the fallow
deer population within the forest, and did so with the help and support of many
of the staff at the Corporation of London. The current deer management
strategy was naturally a factor in the study. Also of particular interest was the
gradual decline in the numbers of deer in the forest and the large increases in
deer numbers found on the bufferlands. Our study suggests that revised deer and
forest management strategies be considered.