Fig. 3.1 shows a male red deer, Cervus elaphus. Red deer are herbivores, browsing on low vegetation in forests and on waste land. [Figure 3.1] A history of wild red deer on the western European island of Ireland includes these facts: • Red deer have lived in Ireland for at least 12000 years. • Originally red deer could cross from the neighbouring island of Great Britain to Ireland over a land connection. • A rise in sea levels at the end of the last Ice Age removed this land connection, separating the red deer on the two islands. • In the 1800s the number of red deer in Ireland decreased sharply after the main food crop for the human population failed for several consecutive years. • In the 1900s this decrease in the number of red deer continued as large areas of waste land were drained for agriculture. • By 1960 red deer were nearly extinct in Ireland, restricted to one population, A, of 60 individuals. • Since then protection has allowed population A to increase to over 600 red deer. • Several new red deer populations, B, C and D, have also been established in different parts of Ireland from individuals brought from Great Britain.