Damhirsch Kuscheltier - Anima Plüschfigur sitzend

Pale spots on the reddish-brown flank, a cream throat and two still-slender antlers between the ears: the fallow deer soft toy by Anima shows a young buck in summer coat. Its fur is soft and lightly fluffy, the body big enough to lean against and handy enough to take to bed at night. Children who know deer from woodland walks reach for it straight away — and once the animal is in their arms, it rarely goes back. In nurseries and schools the plush toy shows what sets roe deer, red deer and fallow deer apart. Anima has been making plush animals in France since 1946, and the figures meet the European EN71 safety standard.

The fallow deer (Dama dama) originally comes from Asia Minor and the Near East and was brought to Europe by the Phoenicians and Romans. Bucks weigh 53 to 90 kilograms, does considerably less, and head and body length runs from 120 to 140 centimetres. In summer the coat is light reddish-brown with white spots; in winter it turns greyish-brown to almost black. The palmate antlers, carried only by the males, are the giveaway. Does and younger bucks live in herds nearly all year round, thirty to two hundred animals strong depending on the habitat.

Did you know that fallow bucks do not roar in the rut like red deer, but belch? From early October to mid-November they produce short, rough calls in quick succession that carry up to a kilometre. They cast their antlers every year in April or May and grow a new set by late summer. During the rut they lose up to 27 per cent of their body weight.