Barbary Stag
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Suborder:	Ruminantia
Family:	Cervidae
Subfamily:	Cervinae
Genus:	Cervus
Species:	C. elaphus
Subspecies:	C. e. barbarus
Trinomial name
Cervus elaphus barbarus

The Barbary stag (Cervus elaphus barbarus), or Atlas deer is a subspecies of red deer that is native to North Africa.

Contents 1 Description 2 Range/Habitat 3 Nomenclature 4 Predators 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Description

The Barbary stag is smaller than the typical red deer. Its body is dark brown with some white spots on its flanks and back. The antlers lack the bez (second) tine.

[edit] Range/Habitat

The Atlas deer is the only member of the deer family that is native to Africa. It thrives in dense, humid forested areas of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.^[1] It had initially been hunted to extinction in the latter, but specimens from the Tunisian population were reintroduced in the 1990s.^[1]

[edit] Nomenclature

Recent genetic studies indicate that the North African red deer population is practically indistinguishable from the Sardinian and Corsican populations, generally referred to as the Corsican red deer. Further analysis suggests that these populations belong to a separate species, and should be grouped under the name Cervus corsicanus.^[1]

[edit] Predators

The Barbary stag has or has had predators like the Barbary lion, the Atlas bear, and the Barbary leopard, but they have either become extinct or are endangered.

[edit] External links

• US Fish & Wildlife Service entry for the Barbary Stag
• Description (Spanish)
• Inclusion of Cervus elaphus barbarus (Atlas deer) in Appendix I of CITES (with a description of this species)

[edit] References