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bachelor groups outside the breeding season. The rut takes place in
September, and dominant stags acquire harems. The fawns are born
between mid-March and mid-April, and remain hidden for the first
two weeks of life.
Distribution and Status This is the Asian form of Fallow Deer. It once
occurred eastwards from the Mediterranean coast through Syria, Iraq
and southern Turkey, and across western Iran. By the 1950s it was
thought to be extinct, but in 1957 it was found to have survived in
small numbers in forest along the Karkheh and Dez Rivers in Iranian
Khuzestan, close to the border with Iraq. Breeding programmes have
resulted in translocations to several Iranian protected areas. The