ZSL Whipsnade Zoo Whipsnade hand-rearing water deer fawns

Whilst foxes, badgers and even the now ubiquitous buzzard will take young water deer, by far the biggest culprit has always been the carrion crow. especially on the passage throug asia and the white rhino paddock where there is little cover for newborns. they literally pull the babies apart piece by piece before the other predators even get a look in. The high numbers of water deer historically goes back to the days when the Downs were not fenced off as a sssi site, and there were literally hundreds of wallabies and water deer living there. maybe 15 or 20 years ago at a guess. its about time something was done to manage the water deer, it would be a shame if they died out

 

That is interesting. Certainly the number of Corvids has dramatically increased with the reduction in aggressive and intensive game-keeping methods.
Here, Rooks and Jackdaws dominate with just the odd Magpie and Carrion Crow.

 

Interesting insight in to the problem. I used to see many Chinese Water Deer, Muntjac and free-ranging Wallabies on my visits, in recent times they seem to have almost disappeared. In March just before the lockdown I made a visit and saw a very pale CWD in the Passage through Asia, looked to be almost albino.

 

I agree that something should be done relating to managing the Chinese water deer population. Mind in PR China they are now endangered ...