In 1867 the Otago Society imported seven axis deer, or chital (_Cervus axis_), which were liberated in the Goodwood bush, near Palmerston. In 1871 another stag was landed and added to the herd, which at that time numbered about thirty. Ten years later the Inspector reported that he had seen over forty. Then complaints began to come in from the settlers round about that the deer were a nuisance, and their numbers gradually diminished. Gradually they were killed off, and none have been seen thereabouts for the last twenty years.
In 1898 the Wellington Society received a pair of axis deer from the Zoological Society of Calcutta, and placed them on Kapiti Island, in Cook Strait. Four years later they had not increased, and I have not heard of them since. In 1907 the Tourist Department liberated five axis deer at Mount Tongariro, and in 1909 five in Dusky Sound. No reports have as yet been received regarding either of these latest experiments.
On account of its graceful form, beautiful colouring, and comparatively inoffensive manner, this is the favourite deer for parks and pleasure-grounds.
The fallow deer has palmated antlers--that is, they end in a broad expansion, which is divided into several points, and has been compared to a hand with its fingers. These antlers are not developed at all in the fawn; in the second season they are simple snags; in the third the two front branches develop; in the fourth the extremity of the beam begins to assume the palmated form; while the fully developed antler occurs only in the sixth year. It is thus possible to tell the age of a buck by its antlers, and the following terms have been used to distinguish the stags: Fawn, pricket, sorrel, soare, buck of the first lead, and buck complete. The antlers are usually cast about November, but I have no information as to the dates in the different districts, and whether the milder climate of the North Island causes any earlier development. By the middle of February the new horns are almost free from their velvet, and in about five months the antlers are complete. The breeding (rutting) season begins about the middle of April, when the bucks are occasionally heard to utter a sort of grunting bark. This is the only kind of sound uttered by these animals. A single fawn is born each year, usually in the month of December.