Cervus Italian – Wikipedia

The Cervo della Mesola ( Cervus Italian ( Zachos et al., 2014 )), also known as deer of the dunes O Italico deer , is a subspecies of noble deer once widespread along the Italian coast of the Upper Adriatic, but today found exclusively in the Mesola wood. In the past, a deer population believed it belonging to the subspecies of central Europe, but following subsequent genetic and morphological studies it was reclassified as a distinct subspecies. ^{[first] [2]}

The deer of the Mesola is more modest in size than the deer that inhabit continental Europe, with a weight that in adults is around 110 kg for males and 75 kg for females on average; It is also proportionally lesser stature, with a height at the withers equal to 58% of the head-to-track length (which is about 184 cm in adult males and 167 cm in adult females), against a 63% rule in other populations European, this is due to a light but significant shortening of the limbs, also found in the Tyrrhenian subspecies ( Cervus Corsicanus ) and in the North African one ( Cervus BLACKUS ). ^{[first] [3]} The stages are about 70 cm long and have a particularly simplified structure, generally with no more than three tips per Stanga, unlike other European populations that typically have six tips for the stanga. The needle and terminal crown are rarely manifested and the latter almost exclusively in specimens that have reached the tenth year of age. The crown, when present, can take the typical cup shape widespread in most of Europe, or a characteristic fan shape with three points. The summer livery of the Mesola deer is characteristic as, unlike other European deer, it has a slight but clearly visible spotting even in adult specimens; This feature can also be found in the deer of the Caspian and in the Cervo dell’Alante deer Subadults. ^{[2] [first]}

His behavior does not seem to differ significantly from that of other subspecies of noble deer, but as regards reproduction, which generally takes place between the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, the fact that the bramit of adult males must be reported It is characterized by its particularly low frequency (79 Hz) if compared to that of other subspecies present in continental Europe such as Iberian deer (186 Hz) or deer present in the Alpine arc (150-274 Hz); On the contrary, it appears to have an almost double frequency compared to the bramit of the Sardinian deer (40 Hz). ^[4]

This subspecies was originally widespread in the sub-mediterranean forests of holm oaks often surrounded by swamps and wetlands on the Italian coast of the North Adriatic, from the Delta del Po to Cervia, but due to deforestation and hunting its area was rapidly reduced up to On the eighteenth century, when the only area inhabited by this deer was the woods of the Pomposian prepositing, which following subsequent cuts and reclamation became the current Mesola forest. The deer of the Mesola lives coastal forests with particularly sandy and not very productive soils, where the vegetation is mainly made up of the holm oak, tamerics and shrubs typical of Mediterranean forests. The sandy soil of the forest sometimes creates dunous areas, which is why this deer is sometimes called deer of the dunes . ^{[first] [2]}

With the destruction of his habitat, the population of the deer of the Mesola has gradually reduced until it reaches a historical minimum of about 10-15 individuals who remained during the second post-war period. Thanks to greater protection, the population slowly began to increase from about 40 garments in the late 1960s to about 120 in 2006. This subspecies remained strongly threatened especially by the coupling between blood relatives and the very scarce genetic diversity that constitutes a serious danger for the long -term survival of this deer. To protect genetic diversity and prevent calamities such as epidemics, fires, floods or other catastrophic events to bring subspecies to an indication, the identification of new areas is underway to introduce the Mesola deer nuclei so that other separate self -sufficient populations are created from the original one. ^{[2] [first]}