Red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Between mid-September and mid-October, at dawn or dusk, listen out: this is the rutting period for stags and their roars and barks can often be heard echoing through the Mercantour valleys.This is a very tiring period for the stags as they do not have time to eat properly. As soon as the rutting period is over, they have to quickly put on weight to be ready for winter.Stags weigh between 130 and 180kg and does between 80 and 110kg. Stags stand at 1.20m to 1.40m tall and can live for up to 15 years.