Jaegersborg Royal Park (DK) - White Red Deer In December 2001 Stedemanshof imported a small herd of white red deer, consisting of a number of young hinds, full-grown ones and two rising 1 year-old stags. The herd has some interesting features: full-grown hinds easily weigh up to 130/140 kilos, while the hard antlers of full-grown stags normally weigh 10 kilos or more. [ Mature Jaegersborg white red deer hinds ] These deer originate from Jaegersborg Royal Park in Denmark, although they were not purchased directly from Jaegersborg. It goes without saying that they are interesting because of their white colour, although they are not snow-white. At least as important is the Jaegersborg stag's strength. Compared to the body weight, the antlers of superior Jaegersborg stags can be considered equal or superior to those of the heavier Hungarian animals for instance. [ White spiker at Stedemanshof - antler length: 65 + 66 cm ] About Jaegersborg Royal Park and about white red deer in general numerous stories exist. It sounded like a good idea to us to let people " who know what they are talking about" say a few words. Learn more in the short fragments below. D.Bruce BANWELL "Probably some of the finest European red deer I have had the pleasure of viewing are in the Jaegersborg Royal Deer Park at Klampenborg, Denmark, some 14 km north of Copenhagen." "The Jaegersborg Royal Park has a herd of red deer to be very proud of." "The original reason for putting red deer in the Park was to provide parforce-hunting, or the chase on horseback with hounds. This practice ceased in 1777, with the Park reverting to selective shooting, the hunting facilities catering mainly for the Danish Royal Family. Since those days, many great trophies have been taken." "Perhaps the most interesting point about the red deer of the Jaegersborg Royal Park is their genetic background." "Add to that the introductions from other areas of Denmark - as well as Germany's Holstein area, Wurtemburg and Pomerania - and it may just be possible that the Jaegersborg Royal Park houses one of the few herds of European red deer that can be claimed to belong to a single zoological classification, or sub-species - pure hippelaphus. Some of these subsequent introductions appeared as early as 1737, when the white red deer were recorded to have arrived from Wurtemburg. Most of the Danish red deer are not purely white, but tend to a greyish cream." Ludek BARTOS & Rudolf SILER "The genetics of colouration of the white red deer is quite different (and more complicated) than that of e.g. fallow deer. It is possible to select, establish and maintain whole herds of the white fallow deer having exclusively white progeny. In the red deer this is not possible. White coloured parents may produce normally coloured calves and normally coloured parents may have white calves." [ White hinds and calves at Stedemanshof. ] Ludek BARTOS "The oldest breed of the white red deer that has been maintained up-to-date is most likely the one in Jaegersborg, Denmark. In 1737 King Christian VI imported twelve white red deer from Wurtemburg, Germany. Nonetheless, Bohemia was perhaps the first European country where the deer came to." "There are several hypotheses about the origins of the white red deer." "In brief, the full history of the white red deer is not clear and it is doubtful that we will ever be able to find out the whole truth."