Urban animal: Oh Deer

In times gone by, hunting was the preserve of the ruling class. Some woodland was set aside for this as a banned wood. Especially as population growth exploded after 1150 more and more land was brought under cultivation. Where the aim of the hunting forest was originally to keep people out, it would now become to keep the game animals in. In some cases hunting reserves were created by fencing off existing woodland to create a deer park. The word "park" is derived from empark : "to surround with a wooden fence or paling". Richmond park is an excellent example of a deer park.  In Austria and Germany many of these facilities known as Tiergarten survive. First such hunting grounds were stocked with Wild boar and Red deer. As the area set aside for hunting gradually decreased the smaller Fallow deer was introduced from the Balkans.

In Ludwigsburg, a baroque grid city, the residential palace was built in the place of a hunting lodge. The Formal garden took up part of the natural wood, a section was cut down for the town and the rest was enclosed as a deer park. The deer park survives to this day as an urban oases with almost tame black Fallow deer. Especially young males come up close begging for food.

The natural colour of Fallow deer varies, but they typically have a chestnut coat with creamy spots in summer and a lighter underside. In nature animals with a darker reddish brown (menil) or black (melanistic) also occur; a creamy white coat (leucistic) is also seen in captive herds. As these animals are easy to keep and breed well in captivity they also populate urban park. There they are fenced in (left Arnhem and right Eindhoven) or separated from the visiting public by a moat and wall (middle Bad Driburg).