Riddle about black deer: rare natural phenomena in northern Germany!

In Germany, an estimated approximately 2.5 million deer live, with a particularly rare variant that black deer occurs in the northwest of the country. These animals, which are characterized by a dark gray to deep black fur, do not differ from their red -brown conspecifics in physique, weight and antlers. The phenomenon that leads to this dark color is called melanism, caused by a genetic defect that causes an increased formation of black pigments.

The history of the black deer goes back to the year 1000, especially around Hanover. There are reports that prove a occurrence of these animals in the 16th century in Verden, Osnabrück and in the Lüchow-Dannenberg district. A black roebuck can be found in the coat of arms in the municipality of Haste. Despite isolated sightings in regions such as Taunus and on the border between Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, it remains unclear why black deer occur almost exclusively in the lowlands between the Ems and Elbe, such as t-online.de reported.

rarity and popularity

The exact number of black deer in Germany is unclear; It is estimated that the pigment disorder occurs in a ratio of 1: 10,000. Some calculations even suspect that up to 20 percent of all deer in northwest could be black. These animals are very popular with foreign hunters who are looking for trophies. In Haste, almost all red -brown deer were shot until 1933 to increase the existence of black deer, which led to a rate of 90 percent of rare animals.

In the wild, deer are usually colored brown-reduced, but the experts show great interest in the black deer and their origin. Even if the population of deer in Germany is stable overall, the existence of black deer is classified as low. Therefore, there are restrictions on hunting for these rare copies, and it is reported that no black female deer are released for hunting, such as ProSieben explained.