Deer of the World - (Fascinating Life Sciences) by Mario Melletti & Stefano Focardi (Hardcover)

From the Back Cover

This book is the first comprehensive reference work ever published on the systematics, ecology, conservation status, and management of all the world's deer species.

Covering all 53 deer species worldwide, this volume brings together the contributions of 160 international deer experts and provides:

• A comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge on the evolution, phylogeny, taxonomy, and systematics of deer
• An in-depth insight into the ecology and conservation status of each species, with detailed accounts
• A series of case studies on conservation, management, hunting, farming, disease ecology, and the impact of deer on forest ecosystems.

This beautifully illustrated book is an invaluable resource for researchers, wildlife managers, and students of conservation biology, ecology, and management, as well as the interested layperson. It reveals the fascinating story of deer evolution, the long history of human interactions with deer, and the major threats to this charismatic species group.

About the Author

Mario Melletti (BSc, MSc, PhD) is an Italian freelance wildlife biologist and member of the African Buffalo Initiative Group and the Wild Pig Specialist Group, both part of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. During his PhD studies he worked at the Department of Animal and Human Biology of the University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy and at the Department of Conservation Biology of the Estación Biólogica de Doñana (CSIC-EBD) Sevilla, Spain. For about two and a half years, he has been studying the ecology and behaviour of the forest buffalo in the Central African Republic. Mario has conducted research on a number of other large mammals and has participated in several projects and surveys on African mammals. He has also worked in other African countries including Burkina Faso, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In 2010, he began working with Cambridge University Press as an editor of a series of books on the conservation and management of large mammals. Books Mario has edited with Cambridge University Press include Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour of Wild Cattle: Implications for Conservation (2014), Ecology, Conservation and Management of Wild Pigs and Peccaries (2017), Bears of the World: Ecology, Conservation and Management (2020). Mario has also edited the following books published by Springer Nature: Tapirs of the World: Ecology, Conservation and Management (2024), Rhinos of the World: Ecology, Conservation and Management (2025) and Movement Ecology of Afrotropical Forest Mammals (2023). He is the author of about 70 scientific publications and book chapters.

Stefano Focardi is a senior researcher at the Institute for Complex Systems of the CNR in Florence, Italy, where he leads the large mammal research team. He is also Professor of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of Florence and Invited Professor at the University of Lyon, France. He also leads a collaboration with INRA in Toulouse, France. He is the author of 110 scientific articles and 26 environmental management documents. He is also the scientific coordinator of EUROBOAR, a European organisation for research into the biology of wild boar, and an active member of the EURODEER INITIATIVE. He is a specialist in the biology of roe deer and fallow deer and has organised several international meetings on these two cervid species. His current research interests include ungulate demography, avian and mammalian movement ecology, and population assessment.