The males earlier than females phenomenon in the fawning season of fallow deer (Dama dama)

Twenty years ago, Gaede (in Hemmer, Nutztier Damhirsch Rheinischer Landwirtschafts-Verlag, Bonn, pp 95-112, 1986) pointed to a trend that male fawns of farmed fallow deer were born predominantly within the first half of the fawning season, whereas female fawns were born primarily during the second half. The data basis collected during 25 years of pedigree breeding in the fallow deer domestication project directed by the author shows this males earlier than females phenomenon to be real and statistically highly significant. It seems to depend on the age of the siring bucks and may mirror the fat-season-syndrome during the rut.