A quarter-tonne ‘monarch’ red deer stag called Hazard is gearing up for the rutting season at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire by covering his already-impressive antlers with a headdress made from branches and grass.
The bizarre-looking headgear is part of a series of adaptations made by the males as they enter the main rutting season.
It’s thought the additional vegetation helps to make the stags look even larger as it is the most powerful males that will attract the largest harem of hinds.
“Hazard is by far the biggest and most powerful of the males here at Longleat with a truly magnificent set of antlers,” said keeper Ian Turner.
“Any red deer with more than 16 points on its antlers is known as a ‘monarch’ and Hazard definitely lives up to his regal title.
“At five years old he is pretty much in his prime and weighs in at around 250 kilogrammes.
“Hazard is one of three males in our 100-plus herd, but he is by far the most powerful and will end up leading the largest group of females. This means pretty much all next year’s fawns will be his,” he added.
In the run up to the rutting season, the stags undergo various physiological changes. As their levels of testosterone rise their necks double in thickness, their larynx becomes more prominent and even the shape of their tongue changes.
The stag with the largest roar is most likely to attract more females and will also warn other males to keep away. If this does not put off would-be rivals the stags will often perform parallel walking stand-offs and it is only when all else fails, they will end up locking horns and fighting.
The stags are often so aggressive these fights can lead to serious injury and even death. Incredibly red deer shed their antlers each year and grow a new set.
All that intense energy and constant vigilance means the males seldom have time to eat or sleep during the rut and can lose up to a third of their weight during the season.
The red deer also share the park with a herd of Pere David’s deer, a species of deer native to China which is currently classified as extinct in the wild. The Pere David’s deer have already been through their rut and give birth slightly earlier than the red deer in the spring.
